Crypto Kingdom - 1991 Retro Virtual World(City)

[rpietila]

Formation of Historical Estates in TVA Duchy
ADD: To differentiate these from "Estates of dead people", we will try to change the term to Manor in the future

With the changes in the Food generation, King has realized that his historical lands in TVA Duchy, both the farms and the taxes-in-kind combined, account for roughly half of all the VEG and MEAT supply of TMA CryptoTown currently - the rest being independent farmers selling from their own account (Farmers). With both the PC and NPC population in the rise, the good management is paramount to keep their production up.

The Counties are already ramping up their FOIE production and the MEAT production is in the rise as well (which is very good as these "regular" meats are not sufficient even for current level of consumption).

Being overwhelmed with the state affairs, the King has called the land in the Old Duchy to be divided according to the historical Estates:

1. Aaspere
2. Essu
3. Haljala
4. Kunda
5. Pada

Each of the Estates has a nominal farm production of 9,500-21,500 VEG and meat production of 3,000 MEAT. All the costs of production are already paid in kind (and a big part of this is tax revenue from the peasants anyway). This makes at "standard prices" (1000 m for VEG; 5000 m for MEAT), these Estates yield 25-37 mil annual profit each.

Aaspere has the largest VEG production and Pada the smallest, and this is their order of preeminence. We are now calling the industrious nobles and commoners alike to post their interest in becoming tenants of these Estates (production shares will be transferred to character account). Even corporations are not excluded!

Terms of awarding:
- King will award the Estates to whomever he likes, and Aaspere is reserved for Lord James Daniel.
- King considers the following things in awarding:
* Level, history and playstyle of the applicant.
* Current strength of Army in command of the applicant and currently undeployed. (It is too late to call back troops.)
* Proposed donation to the Royal Treasury (charged only to those who are accepted).
* If gifts are given to accompany the application, they will remain with the King.
- The applications are to be made no later than the close of the year and the winners will be announced in January.

Terms of tenancy:
- The tenant may use the title "Lord of [Essu]" after Viscounties and before Baronetcies (this is a courtesy title for a tenant though).
- The tenant can keep all the proceeds of selling the production. Hoarding will be penalized.
- The term is 2 years, 1623-1624 (VEG coming in autumn and MEAT by the close of year).
- The estate must be protected by an Army contingent, and this is evaluated in the end of term. (All Army promotions etc are evaluated at the same time so no double-duty is possible.)
- The tenant agrees to not keep any forces stationed in CryptoTown but only in the estate and other legitimate places.
- Gameplay is allowed.
- A short report must be produced in the end, outlining the success of market operations and the protection level (strength, BV) acquired.

What comes afterwards:
- The faithful managers are offered continuation term or even the outright Lordship of the Estate. Every continuing Lord will be ennobled and promoted Baron L13 (when applicable).
- It is unlikely that the other Counties will reach this level of PRE in a few years at least.
- Estates are about to be incorporated "soon" - this is a part of larger game modules though (allowing eg. urban wood and stone building and rural building).

Gamemaster note:

But what happened to James Daniel? Four rolls of d20 were required to find it out. For the first 2 days nobody saw the King, nor Heimo, nor James Daniel (King had not been present in the reading of Gustaf Adolf proclamation). Wild rumors circulated around the town, fueled by the word "brother". People even took sides about whether James Daniel is a bastard son of the late King of Sweden, or whether their current king is a bastard of HM The King. Others were more moderate and interpreted the word by "close friendship" only with no illegitimacy involved. Only a few were dismissing the incident completely. Strong men do not pass out when seeing engravings of other strong men. The "blood oath" received surprisingly little attention.

But Heimo had sensed danger to James Daniel life mainly based on that. It is not easily reconcilable that a son to the King has sworn to a boy who later became a king of another Power. In the hours following, the Prince of Soul proved his sense of honor in the upper room of the Gilded Goose by swearing that he will kill his only son if this is revealed a traitor (Paul Jr was not present).

Heimo had taken James Daniel to one of his auxiliary palaces and arranged it so that he could escape with plausible deniability (after all, Heimo's whole retinue was the 7 men mentioned, and they have other duties as well). It took a day but no longer before the King sent for Heimo, who confessed possession of James Daniel. He saw it fit to agree to King's demand to fetch him immediately.

When they arrived to the summerhouse in person, James Daniel was there unharmed. What follows, is announced in the thread. Heimo says he did not question James Daniel and has only acted honorably and in subservience to the King.

As for the Estates, the King is no fool. He is playing as if he was oblivious of the rising tensions that the County Rush is creating, nor the potential difficulties arising from religious freedom. Sweden became a protestant country long ago, due to the political expediency at the time when the Crown needed funds that could nicely be confiscated from the Church. We don't have such a problem luckily, the Church is rich but the Crown is way more powerful. The King is undecided in the actual matter of faith - both sides have their strong points. If possible, let this state of affairs continue.

But it does not mean preparations were not on a high gear here as well. The advance of Cannon should have come years earlier, but better late than never. The defence of CryptoTown and the lands that provide food is important. Getting the lands out to the lords will be a hit to the royal incomes, but will serve as getting the loose troops out from the town, and their owners committed to the defence in the perimeter. With the information James Daniel gave about HKM, all kinds of readiness is most needed, and more will follow soon. The town has not been attacked during its history, which may have lead the people to believe it could not happen in the future. Hopefully they are correct.

The Foreign Powers (currently Queen Louhi, HKM Gustaf Adolf) are masterminded by players who are not characters in the game, and their decisions will be given to the GM for evaluation.

[1715416732]

1715416732

[1715416732]

1715416732

[rpietila]

A Friday Night special brings us the memories from the Most Ancient times (posts abridged)...

Number of PC in 1422 was already 19, and gold was cheap:

Tidings of the Kingdom, (in the beginning of) A.D. 1422


The full list of characters and their ingame possessions:

Code:

Totals.................		120,000	1,626,051 

Full name............	Level	gold..	stone
HM The King...........	15	42,216 	945,766 
David, E of Armagnac	10	16,600 	325,400 
Riccardo, Earl of F.S.*	10	6,167 	6,835 * F.S. = Forte Spagnolo 
Lord NewLiberty........	9	10,550 	56,200 
Dr. Choo...............	9	2,000 	11,000 
Dame Roopatra.........	8	1,000 	12,000 
Zenon the Sorcerer....	7	1,400 	16,000 
Master James Syme...	6	10,700 	56,800 
Master Ale............	6	10,200 	54,800 
drfred................	5	4,000 	15,000 
serje..................	5	1,167 	6,000 
saddambitcoin..........	4	2,500 	12,000 
gwada971..............	4	2,000 	22,000 
AdamWhite.............	4	2,000 	11,000 
Rhadamanthus.........	3	1,450 	8,250 
Febo..................	3	1,400 	16,000 
Leila Liekki..........	3	1,400 	16,000 
binaryFate...........	3	1,000 	12,000 
smooth................	3	2,250 	23,000 

fluffypony is created Earl of Forte Spagnolo.   "His Majesty is very pleased in the upstanding character of Earl Riccardo, and his decision to coordinate the technical development of the Game as Project Manager. Our business relations can only get better following the latest developments."

The King bestows Earl Riccardo with 5,000 gold.

Dr. Choo is created Baron, although he continues to use his title "Dr."   "His Majesty received Dr. Choo this same year 1422, after his long and tiring journey to the Tsardom of Rossiya. He told wonderful stories about musical instruments that he had seen in the Tsar's treasure chambers, something that have never been seen in the Kingdom. He had appraised one of them to be worth 175,000-250,000 gold, and showed me a parchment of proof with the intendant's seal on it. Astounded by this great man wanting to settle in our Kingdom, we have created him Baron, with gifts."

The King bestows Dr. Choo with 2,000 gold.

Zenon the Sorcerer appeared to the King.   "His Majesty heard mysterious things from The Very Ancient Magus. It is possible that the longevity we currently enjoy in our Ancient era, is not solely based on the Two Springs in the NW chapelry of the soon-to-be Old Town, right outside of the planned First City Wall, but it is Zenon who has been protecting us all these years and has only now appeared. He promised to appear again in our Castle, whose construction we now have a reason to rush."

Roopatra, a relative to the King (however not in direct lineage), requested audience and presented her credentials. Roopatra is created Dame, since the King is of noble blood and none of his relatives may be regarded commoners. (The level L8 Knight/Dame/Jungherr/Jungfrau is reserved for descendants of nobility who do not have their fiefdoms yet, and are too young and/or poor to be promoted L9 Barons/Baronesses.   "His Majesty accepts Dame Roopatra's birth certificate, and grants her a loan of 1,000 gold for getting started."

The King gives Dame Roopatra 1,000 gold, with the hopes of getting it back at the consummation of Ancient era.

Rumors of the benevolence of The Earl of Armagnac have reached The King's ears. The Earl has sent a letter to the Royal Treasury to transfer 1,000 gold to the faithful expert servant serje.   "We are delighted of the generosity and add the early poster bonus to the sum, even though we are not rule- or oath-bound to do it."

In preparation for the Golden Jubilee in 1450, suits already cost a big penny:

Pre-ANN: Version 1.2: Golden Jubilee (2014-11-2/4)

His Majesty has soon been reigning 50 years and all the Kingdom will celebrate his Golden Dubilee in A.D. 1450 (next Tuesday). To keep in line with our version release schedule being on Sundays, the new mechanics will be announced 4 years in advance. This gives the citizens time to prepare. This pre-announcement outlines what is going to happen.

Clothing

The price list these distant masters have given us is as follows:

Royal Suit (purple) - May only be ordered by the King - 30,000,000 m
Noble Suit (blue) - May only be ordered/worn by nobles - 15,000,000 m
Merchant Suit (red) - If you do business of any kind, these are ok for you - 12,000,000 m
Festive Suit (orange) - Even the rich peasants have a dream to own one of these - 10,000,000 m
Scholar Suit (white) - Only people in academic professions use these clothes - 6,000,000 m
Artesan Suit (green) - Anyone can order these, but no gold embellishment is possible - 3,000,000 m

And if the current time sounds that huge money is pressed to the PREparations, in 1450 it was even tougher:

Times of Trouble

Lord Marquis, the Earls, dignified nobles and all hard-working citizens of the capital,

It has come to our attention that the foreign tribes and lands have not only sent envoys and gifts to our magnificent celebration. Our guards have been on alert for spies, and in fact at least two confirmed cases have now been exposed. They are being treated in the dungeon below us. Our Majesty has already been aware of signs of unrest, but now we will have to prepare for worse. Even an outright invasion of the barbarians who only care about loot and plunder may be in preparation.

We do not expect this to come right now, a determined expedition will take decades to prepare. But to be able to withstand it, we must prepare also. Since the emancipation, there are many able peasants willing to undergo military training, to form a standing army to protect the city and act as a deterrent for invasion.

Our plan to increase our readiness is happening in stages. The efficiency in battle of a trained soldier is manifold compared to militiamen, and we must make up our lack of advanced weaponry (the King with his subjects having been consumed with works of peace until now) with an even better training.

We have therefore decided to build a grand Citadel in the west end of the City. Its walls will be several meters thick and equipped with Cannons, skilled works of cast metal that our friendly allies in other Kingdoms will provide, albeit at a considerable cost. Please keep it secret to our enemies, as well as the installation of the fire machines that the Magus was explaining.

To train the soldiers, we require the help of citizens. We have therefore now established the (Most) Ancient Order of Defence, for the officers in the Army. The Order will consist of several classes, as follows

Colonel - commander of the citadel and practically of the defence of the city, responsible to the King
Major - a distinguished captain
Captain - in command of 100 soldiers
Lieu-tenant - in command of 30 soldiers (highest NPC level possible)
Knight - in command of 10 soldiers (trained NPC also possible)
Corporal (NPC) - in command of 5 soldiers (him included)

Everyone joining the Army is Knighted (L8) if he already does not hold a higher rank. (Needless to say, women are not eligible.)

Incalculable amounts of stone are needed for constructing the Citadel (and other fortifications), and the time is pressing. We therefore offer free land for every citizen who donates stone to the construction. For every 50,000 stone donated, we give 1 quadrat of land in the inner, protected part of the new area of the city. (First come, first to choose.)

The whole western perimeter we see fit to give out as haws to the Knights and Officers of the army. The deal is as follows:

- For anyone, even a commoner, willing to become a Knight (includes promotion to L8), and start training 10 soldiers under him, we will grant as a haw, 15 quadrats bordering the new city wall.

[rpietila]

King's High Council

Town has its council that decides about the important matters of the game. But King also has a council which is called when the Kingdom is in danger.

In an adhoc meeting with peers present, the following was decided:

1. Exhort the Prince of Soul to deploy a convoy to the Principality of Soul, with the specific objective to gain blueprints of the local weapon known with its Chinese name Cho-Ko-Nu so that it can be perfected in Crypto Kingdom to be used by our troops (and optionally other objectives).

2. Draft plans for the merging of Phaeton Carriage Company to the Royal Windows Works Company and dedicate the new company to weapons research and production under the name Royal Weapons Works Company (RWWC). At the earliest opportunity, the production of CANN will be doubled, and research and later, production, started for cast copper cannonballs and chained balls.

3. After as much information on other frontiers is received as possible, however no later than January, 1623, deploy a detachment on horseback to the south with money to recruit mercenaries. The County of Plath is one possible location. The mercenaries to be recruited need to be veterans, have their own equipment and NCO (but no officers!) and be trained in Muskets (and have them as well). They will fight integrated to our own forces with special care given that despite their superior firepower, our loyal troops remain the majority of the Fighting Strength in every unit (if possible).

The currency that will be sent with the recruitment force is IC (CONSUME IC amount [mercenaries]). Everyone who wants Mercenaries can contribute to the pot, and the NPC recruited will be divided in accordance when they return to CryptoTown. If another destination is wished, it must be communicated beforehand. Note: if a local NCO costs 20-100 million, it can be that the mercenaries also cost serious dough. Moreover, their salary is unknown at the moment. d20 is strong here, so the venture might end in anything between "all recruiters killed and IC stolen" to very lucrative deals.

Mercenaries have same ranks as regulars. Because of their muskets, mercenaries' Fighting Strength is higher, as follows:
MSGM = 5
SGTM = 4
CPLM = 3
PTEM = 2
And they are eligible for the Position bonuses (which easily causes their Fighting Strength to surpass the regulars, which might randomly be even hazardous!)

4. If the expedition of Soul returns, Cho-Ko-Nu is researched. If not, care is taken that some muskets remain in our possession after the mercenaries, so that it speeds up our research effort to start producing them for the regulars. It is hinted that Heavy Cannon can be researched at a reasonable 10,000*SCI, but this is of limited use in the field and not a priority. Seafaring is a very tough challenge for our land-based people, and also requires a town on the coast. None of the counties has even explicitly confirmed a suitable coast, although of course they exist.

Gamemaster is very happy that in as little as 12 hours (days, gametime) after meeting a credible foreign power, the Kingdom is mobilized for preparation effort like not in a century!

[noms]

Formation of Historical Estates in TVA Duchy


Being overwhelmed with the state affairs, the King has called the land in the Old Duchy to be divided according to the historical Estates:

1. Aaspere
2. Essu
3. Haljala
4. Kunda
5. Pada

Cooper thought about the request for applications for Estates and decided that if he was to become the noble that he always wanted to be (after his father, The Marquess of White Cross), he needed to act in line with how a noble would act. He must make his way without his father "helping him out" all the time. He told the Marquess that he wanted to get an Estate, and his father tried to donate hundreds of millions of moneritos to him to donate to the treasury. While he hasn't had too many problems growing up, he was starting to see these handouts as a major issue and wanted to make his way on his own.  He turned down the money and used his own funds for this. 

He had a problem though, he was only 26 and he hadn't thought much about making an army. The marquess lent him a few troops to get his estate started. Cooper was adamant that they would be returned as soon as he could afford to purchase his own, from profits made by the estate.  He wants to do this ON HIS OWN!! To this effect, he would like to apply for the Essu estate (or others, if that one is taken).

* He has a SGT and 6 PTE for a small army that he will assign to the Estate to patrol. 
* He would like to donate to the King 10 x CS1617E, the CS-series 5 CKS gold coin from 1617
* He will make a royal treasury donation of 10,000,000 moneritos

[noms]

King's High Council

3. After as much information on other frontiers is received as possible, however no later than January, 1623, deploy a detachment on horseback to the south with money to recruit mercenaries.
Gamemaster is very happy that in as little as 12 hours (days, gametime) after meeting a credible foreign power, the Kingdom is mobilized for preparation effort like not in a century!

To aid with this effort, The Marquess of White Cross would like to donate a H3 - Good Horse as long as there is a suitable rider found. Perhaps if one charming and persuasive commoner is brave enough to take on the challenge of recruiting mercenaries, he could keep the horse as a gesture of goodwill.

[papa_lazzarou]

Angus being a newly ennobled landless Baron, began feeling the heaviness of the walls from his small home. He was not getting younger and felt that he needed to take a risk if he wanted to leave a legacy. Hearing about the new estate opportunity he decided to take his chances.

Lord Angus, RM, would like to apply to a seat in the Estate which His Majesty sees most fit. I vow to protect it by any means necessary (I making the due diligences to acquire a suitable military force  ), and would like to donate 10 mil to the Royal Treasury.  I wish to offer 4 KMT for HM graciousness.

[rpietila]

Tidings from the Counties - November 1622

General

Large resources were sent to the far ends of the Kingdom approximately 1.5 years ago, and some have already brought back reports. It has been found that summer is much more pleasant time for travelling than winter, and therefore the future for sending preparatory convoys in most cases needs to be made as early as March (end of Tuesday, please ignore the game that shows wrong month names). If they are still in place by the November deadline (end of Saturday), they count towards the PRE.

Geography

There is no appreciable cartography talent in the Kingdom, so very rough explanations will need to suffice until situation improves. (This takes into account the info received in the latter part of this post.)

The following counties are to the North of CryptoTown:
North Face, believed to be the furthest north
Tavastia
Petrichor
Stonehaven.
Apart from the initial detachment sent back from the Duke's troops, no information from the far north has been obtained.

The following counties are to the West of CryptoTown:
New Liberty, a large area including an inland sea and many islands.

The following counties are to the East of CryptoTown:
(none - the area has been considered part of Rossiya)

The following counties are to the South of CryptoTown:
Ramsey
White Cross
Grass
Plath
At least they left the south route, but it is mostly unclear where the counties actually are located, because most traffic goes that way.

The following counties are believed to be further away as enclaves of Foreign Powers, at least until our borders expand:
Nassau
Armagnac
Forte Spagnolo
Rome

The following counties are in Korea, the homeland of Dr. Paul Choo (Prince of Soul)
Soul
Gangnam

The location and/or "getting there" of the following counties is mysterious
Arda
Neverland

No information is known of the following counties
OZ
CryptoLuna
Sarajas
Naoned
Savannah
Ghibli
Carabas


In the feedback reports, I will have to use short notation because it might get excessive, so please add the details yourself

New Liberty

As some guessed, the Duke himself had left early to prepare his land for the troops. He was in Stockholm and had met the King Gustaf Adolf personally as a (self-nominated but convincing) high representative of Crypto Kingdom. Due to his massive SCI spends he believes to know the geography and political situation rather well. Sweden is a rising power and HKM (His Royal Majesty) has been fighting many wars around the borders with less success but more experience. The area known as New Liberty is vast as the claim historically encompasses both the coasts of Östersjön, the west one the Swedes consider part of Sweden proper and they also claim the east one, including the islands, and "Tavastia, North Face and Ingria", so possibly the majority of Crypto Kingdom. The claims did not make the relations sour, the King was just wary because he needs allies to "preserve the religious freedom" if possible in the continent as well, since apparently the protestants there are bleeding.

The incident with the advancing Duke of NL Company happened simultaneously and unrelatedly based on previous orders. The company had been searching a port town (or a possibility to build one) when they encountered the Swedish regiment. The Swedes gained "victory" as they held ground while the Duke's forces continued northward, mapping the area and making finds.

OldDuchy

The situation in the town had become somewhat intense, so most of the troops were stationed there, from where they could be deployed easily to help the nobles in their efforts, and also protect the town from surprises. Only the Royal Second Company (90 BV) was mobilized in the spring with the objective of going to the road to Rossiya and find out their outpost, "just to check it out" with no high level diplomatic contact sought due to insufficient preparations. The Training Detachments were tasked to divide the land for the Manors, and the main force (312 BV in single command) stayed in the Citadel, making plans for its modernisation.

The secretly-much-hoped expedition to the East managed only a few days from where our settlements ended. There it met a Rossiyan outpost with a staunch attitude and despite gifts, the only real information that was received is that Rossiya starts there and foreign troops are not welcome. (Civilian contact with Rossiya has been mostly unregulated throughout history.)

White Cross

The troops have already sent back first-hand reports.

Stonehaven

The County of Stonehaven, as currently defined, encompasses the area north of TVA Duchy and until the Great River. The river flows very slowly to the west, yet is navigable. The Marquessate of Tavastia is the norther side. The county has a great plain that is by the river, and some sort of hills in the south (historically considered the northern border of the Old Duchy.

In two summers, a camp has been founded in a suitable spot by the river. The peasant population is a mix of Rossiyans, northerners and locals. The Swedes seem to sort of lord it over the area, and have a very efficient engineering corps effort ongoing. They did not let us spy the main camp which is to the east, meanwhile ours is in plain sight. Communication difficulties have prevented contact. We have not seen regular military.

Plath

The County of Plath is likely the furthest contiguous extent to the South where our forces are seen. The Earl has expended great SCI resources for mapping the situation there, but his army proved their ineffectiveness in the Battle of the Ambush, the first encounter in the Crypto Kingdom liberation wars with casualties (4 killed). The local population stayed content with so many of the trolls slain, with no feelings to either side. The local leader "boy-king" escaped so the encounter is a victory. The management is now ready to start Social Policies in the area (private consultation). Notable is that despite their numbers, both the management and the army are hugely ineffective.

Despite the distance, reaching Plath is comparatively easy - 4 months by a wagon-train, 2 months for foot soldiers and 1 on horseback (summer figures given). This is a very strategic outpost and the construction of a proper road there should be a priority.

The Earl lifted up his gaze and saw a foreign diplomat on the courtyard. Message was:

Good tidings from Castellan and Voivode Palczynski, the ruler of the area. We are happy to inform you that the Universal Catholic Faith reigns supreme in all of Polonia. Good to see that your Kingdom has not fallen to the heretics like that of our archenemy Gustaf Adolf! Join us in our crusade to restore the faith and burn their towns! In return we will recognize your claim not only to Plath but also to the coasts, and strengthen the trade routes.  For now, we consider HRH Prince Boguslaw ("the boy-king") to be the rightful lord here, so you should stop fighting between brothers in faith.

Ramsey

Saddam observes the preparations of the others. Many seem to be going to the end of the known world (which, of course, is true!) But, calculating once in his life, he thinks about where the big prize is. Land near the Capital can be brought to production more quickly, tolls charged to wayfarers, farms are safer from invaders... The closest such land lies immediately to the south from what has traditionally been the Old Duchy entrance. Because the land is near, the troops did not cause too much uproar, the peasants knew where they were from (and the 150 BV of course pacifies things just like it should).

Despite the smallness of SCI available, the administrative component of Saddam's force was large enough to find out that the land was indeed large, and clearly wealthier than the sparse Manors at home. But it had been ravaged by war in not too distant past - all the Manors had been burned down and valuables looted. There was no king in the land, so the dwellers had organized a militia system: each Manor holder "Chief" (it could be envisioned that some of the manors had been fledgling seats of counties due to the size) had a life guard of a few NCO, sometimes only 2. But in 24 hours, each of these can muster 10 men from the peasantry with farm weapons. This was readily presented to actually happen.

Saddam's headquarters is founded in a strategic place near what could-and-should-be the highway from Rome to CryptoTown, and he is entitled to starting social policies towards the peasantry (contact GM).

North Face

The well-equipped force of the Duke of North Face has met no resistance from the locals - if there even were any! The locals live a nomadic life drinking vodka (if they can get it) and only gather together to slaughter their animals. No foie gras is produced here, and very few VEG. "If only this god-forsaken place was closer, that meat would be of value!" The locals pay no attention to the preparations, and are apt to trade and cheat in the trading, but don't produce anything. Silver and copper have been sighted but none of the strange coins.

The only question is, what in the world are we doing here? Does it make sense to build a town here? Some rivers are flowing to the south but because of the orders received, the colony has been kept in a hedgehog formation without venturing outside. The locals tell that far in the north is a snowy mountain range that few can cross, far far in the north is an open sea, then a sea that is frozen all-year round, then it becomes warm again, and Ultima Thule is in the far north. The VOD and MUS enjoyed by the reciter of the tale may have contributed. Still, the question is whether to stand against Nature and go further north, or to south, or to home...

After a longish time of questioning around, trying to get the whereabouts of Louhi, the same envoy appeared. Discussion was, if possible, even shorter than last time: "I am watching you, like I have watched all the previous ones. I will contact you, if I want. In the way I want."

Social policies have become possible because of the PRE accumulated.


Scientific advances possible and their benefits

10,000 SCI  -  Heavy (24-pound) Cannon (almost immobile) manufacturing and proper usage
~30,000 SCI  -  Borough-22 incl eg. continuous urban planning
~10,000 SCI  -  Cho-ko-nu an easy to manufacture and use weapon with higher rate of fire than muskets (req. expedition to get plans)
10,000 SCI  -  Printing press installation and training (incl machinery)
20,000 SCI  -  Muskets manufacturing without helps
~20,000 SCI  -  Seafaring 1: coastal and auxiliary navy and basic seaman training
~20,000 SCI  -  Seafaring 2: wooden ships with cannon, control of Östersjön
~20,000 SCI  -  Seafaring 3: blue seas navy (in theory at least)

[rpietila]

Urgent - new NPC for 1623 have arrived now!

- All existing NPC salaries & benefits paid!

- Don't worry about the high prices of new ones, they will decrease rapidly (in the period of 48 hours) if unsold.

- King and his wealth managed agrees to not buy in 1 hour after price decrease.

- CANNons for sale!

- RWWC and Phaeton merger completed, the owners of the ailing Phaeton accepted 3.5% of the new company. Phaeton debt is transferred to the new company Royal Weapons Works Corporation.

- RWWC needs SCI (again) and will have a financing round soon.

- Count your IC for the mercenary recruitment expedition!

[generalizethis]

Terms of awarding:
- King will award the Estates to whomever he likes, and Aaspere is reserved for Lord James Daniel.
- King considers the following things in awarding:
* Level, history and playstyle of the applicant.
* Current strength of Army in command of the applicant and currently undeployed. (It is too late to call back troops.)
* Proposed donation to the Royal Treasury (charged only to those who are accepted).
* If gifts are given to accompany the application, they will remain with the King.
- The applications are to be made no later than the close of the year and the winners will be announced in January.

--Currently there are 2 LT, 1 MSG, and 1 SGT available for duty, with plans to add 1 CAPT, 3 PTE and 4 PTEM.

--Will donate 20mil to the treasury with the discretion to add more if future applicants see fit to raise the price.

--Will give HM CAO-8 (one of only two golf clubs in the kingdom) and 50 bottles BRA.

[rpietila]

The "PRE post":

TA Duchy of North Face 30*PRE (total)
The County of Plath 24*PRE (total)
TA Duchy of Ramsey 21*PRE (total)
--------------------
TMA Principality of Forte Spagnolo 17*PRE (total)
TVA Duchy 16*PRE (total)
TMA Duchy of New Liberty 15*PRE (total)
The Marquessate of White Cross 14*PRE (total)
The County of Stonehaven 13*PRE (total)
TA Marquessate of Grass 12*PRE (total)
---------------------
TA Marquessate of Tavastia 9*PRE (total)
The County of Petrichor 8*PRE (total)

Most of the info obtainable before winter is in the other post. The bonuses, looting and production comes tomorrow.

[MoneroMooo]

Winter cold was starting to bite when the second expedition joined up with the newly estabished encampment, whose occupiers welcomed the new arrivals, as well as the news from the Old Duchy and letters from friends and family.

After a good night's sleep, the Earl left with a handful of soldiers for a tour of the immediate surrounding area, surveying the camp's location, on an elevated location where the Great River lazily flowed aside, as well as a few of the most relevant areas close to hand. A nearby forest had been providing the necessary timber to build palisades around the camp and simple buildings, and the river was well populated in fish, providing welcome variety in diet.

A few settlements had been located in the region. A small village lied directly south, inhabited by peasants working nearby fields, and raising sheep, pigs, and chicken. Two more villages were further away, one no larger than a hundred people, but the other, also southwards, more substantial. One last settlement was... well, that one was a potential problem. Swedes had settled a camp upstream, and had already started building more permanent structures. The location of the camp, far within Crypto Kingdom's borders, raised questions about the Swedes' intentions.

Until further notice, the Earl's orders are to continue working on the camp, strengthen perimeter palisades, supplement interior wooden shelters before winter. Part of the military will guard the camp, keeping the battle aquila prominently displayed high in the camp, and a scouting group will follow the river downstream, on the lookout for anything of interest, be they more settlements, armed troops, Swedes, emplacements suitable for establishing other camps, or any obstruction to free navigation on the river. Meanwhile, patrols will get the locals used to our presence, and keep an eye on movements, settlements, with particular attention to activity near the Swedes' camp, especially movements of large groups or people or materials in or out, and presence of weaponry. The nature and intent of the works they are engaged in should be ascertained. Materials used should be determined, as well as the source of those, if not already stockpiled. No hostile action should be taken except in self defence. Meanwhile, the sergeant is tasked to go ask if any of the new arrivals speaks Swedish.

[generalizethis]

To the Citizens of Plath,

First, and foremost, I will give you our objective as I feel it is in everyone's interest to know the truth of our plans and whether they wish to participate (for or against) or wait until the outcome is decided.

Our objective is two-fold: secure the border and raise wealth. To that end, we will be collecting taxes and using the proceeds to fund defenses and to encourage trade between tribes and nations. The tax will be 20% and will guarantee the payee our services in trade and war. However, if you decide that these services are not to your liking and decide to pay less than the 20% stipulated, you will see I'm a man with little patience for games and cannot vouch for your safety or that you will be able to participate in the burgeoning economy I plan to bring to this county. To put it simply, no one plays for free.

Gold coins have been minted with the express design to help those who help Plath, and will be given for any meaningful information on our neighbors, troops moving in or around our borders, unique trade opportunities, unique items to be obtained, negotiations that can be pursued for the profit of both sides, or anything that will help with the overall health, wealth and security of our great county.

Many have heard of the battle that took place recently, and we wish to issue peace to those we formerly fought and have both sides come to an arrangement that will be kind and beneficial to our lands. On this point, we offer a truce in the public forum and wish to gain an audience with the parties of Polonia to serve as a guide for the future development of friendship and trade between our lands.

There are many ways to run a county, and we pray that we will do justice for our people, whom both God and King watch over in earnest.

With His service as my guide,

Sir Crichton, Earl of Plath

[rpietila]

225th Jubilee Raffle - Great Prizes!

See link for more information.

Five halvings are done, so only about 1:32 of the original number of tickets remains!

Prizes Awarded

47,671 * CAN given!
23,707 * BEER given!

Prizes Remaining

5,889 tickets (RAF-1) remaining; halving every month (realday)

- - -
2,000 * FOIE
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: 3,700,000,000 m !
(Nominal value of ticket: 628,000 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 is very happy if you wish to donate something to the 225ary Raffle! After all, how else would King know who the upcoming nobles in the Kingdom are... this information is needed for the Celebrations for sure!

[rpietila]

GM announcement: The following information is provided as-is without speculating on the motives of the participants. Only factually confirmed things are listed.

"It suddenly felt as if the Capital had moved 100 miles east..."
- After "Gustaf Adolf proclamation incident", HM The King speedily announced the Manors, which he had had surveyed earlier in the summer.
- Lord James Daniel was announced as the Lord of Aaspere. Aaspere is a big manor to the east. The "Road to Rossiya" goes from B.1 as Boulevard to B.3 and the PofC&S, then turns south as Phaeton Blvd to B.9, navigates next to Crichton's Country Club, and soon afterwards morphs to an unpaved but good-condition road, which can take a messenger to Aaspere in 3 days. The road goes further via the Manor, although its condition grows worse as neither side has been interested in upkeep of the section between outposts.
- Sir Heimo was not very public, and he was seen trying to buy/contract "lifeguards" from anyone, even the church (despite his freedom-of-religion tendencies). Nobody sold but Church temporarily provided him escort. Once the next year forces became available, Sir Heimo overspent on a force barely churning out 20 BV (which is somewhat potent a lifeguard though).
- Lord James Daniel of Aaspere sent a message to Prince of Soul exhorting him to consider an expedition to Korea and returning the Aquila given to him by Soul just a year earlier. At about the same time, he asked the King to make public he does not consider himself worth First Baronet, and asks the King to give the title to the most valiant man in the Kingdom in the Jubilee celebrations. Furthermore, he apologized in advance for not being able to attend to the celebrations because "Aaspere is the Kitchen of the Town" and his presence is required.
- Heimo let it be announced that he owns lands and palaces throughout the town and anything is for sale if the price is correct, and that does not mean high. (Contact GM.)
- Heimo announced that James Daniel had asked him to stay in Aaspere to help with the organisations, which might take 2 years, for which reason the town possessions are in active realisation. (The word liquidation was not used and Heimo said he will continue to keep servants in town.)
- The force, reviving the name The troop of Dauntless from 1599 and its Aquila, left with Heimo.
- James Daniel is amassing troops as well, which he of course should do as the Lord of the Manor.
- HM The King has announced to the Old Duchy administration that Aaspere is a key defensive position and must be guarded with a Company at minimum.
- As a result, the village suddently has forces under three commanders, in the words of a peasant: "guarding each other".

[rpietila]

Pre-announcement

1625 - Age Of Intrigue

The tensions mount on every side. In the north, the mystical Louhi brags to have finished the previous attempts of bringing the lands under civilized rule. In the west, the militaristic Gustaf Adolf prepares for more campaigns. The Polonians are the current outpost of the Imperial Alliance, and eager to get Crypto Kingdom on board as well. Nobles in CK are divided, with some dreaming of alliance with Gustaf Adolf rather, to spare the contested lands from destruction and hopefully receive them after the hostilities are over. One more wild card are the Russians - they have lost the sea access recently to the Swedes, so might want to get it back, but not in the Imperial Alliance (they have one more version of the Holy Faith). If the Swedish are too tough a nut, there are other ways to get to the sea as well...

The health of the King is "weak", and this is the official version. Some suspect that two bad rolls can finish him. Key nobles such as the Duke of New Liberty and the Prince-Bishop, have taken their own decision to withdraw from CryptoTown, and are now plotting with foreign leaders on - who knows whose account. King has sent the other nobles out but has not failed to notice that Armagnac forces have not received their orders to leave the town. This is a little problematic because their commander cannot be contacted and the forces just seem to grow in number.

It is perhaps not a coincidence that The Three Musketeers is meanwhile happening in France.

The rules for personal encounters will be updated soon. The basics are:
- Murder is a crime. Expect to be detected, prosecuted and executed.
- The killed persons still keep their main belongings, only the political influence is reduced when the head of the clan is killed.
- Poisoning does not work every time. People care for each other, so it is difficult to hide that you look like a frog.
- In the countryside, assassinations, ambushes, scandals etc are easier to arrange. When something bad happens to you, remember that it is not necessarily your "friend" who covets your lands, it can be a GM event as well.
- That Heimo is in protection for his life because he knows too much, can as well be that he fears me, or that I fear that my enemies might want to kill him to cast a shadow on my reigning practices; Politkovskaya was killed by the CIA because Putin did not care to protect his outspoken opponents from being assassinated. Or who knows, perhaps it was him/me. Ah sorry, Heimo is still alive...  
- Etc. stay tuned

The Game DB has a tab /Affiliation, where you can codify your opinions on the hot issues about universal catholic rule vs. religious tolerance, and with which of the neighbors to ally if any. This will make it easier to plot whom to kill, how and where.

[Syksy]

First Speculative Map of CryptoKingdom,
with major and minor powers, as well as general foreign power directions by Lord Syksy has now been drafted.

Based on intuition, reports of scouts, intrigue, knowledge of spatial relation towards CryptoTown as well as spatial relation from counties to each other, scientific mapping and pre-known geography, the following map has been drafted:

The map is produced using R, with the following self-sufficient code, which can be updated when new information emerges or if errors are noted (it contains everything required to plot the above):

Code:

# Self-sustainable R code for creating the CryptoKingdom map draft; Jan 17th by Lord Syksy
# Install packages from CRAN if their library-function fails
if(!require("ggmap")) install.packages("ggmap")
if(!require("mapproj")) install.packages("mapproj")
library("ggmap")
library("mapproj")

# Get a rough draft for a map outline
CKmap <- get_map(
	# Give left/bottom/right/top bounding box
	# longitudal/latitudal coordinates
	location = c(10,50,35,65), 
	# Statemen source for the map outline
	source="stamen",
	# Map types; watercolor will give us a medieval feeling as well as is not completely accurate
	maptype="watercolor"#,
	# Fill the graphical device
	#extent = "device"
)
# Suspected places of interest and their coordinates
major <- data.frame(
	# Places of interest, order; 
	# CryptoTown, Louhi, Stockholm1, Stockholm2, Stockholm3
	lon=c(28, 30, 24, 16, 14),
	lat=c(56.25, 61.5, 60, 60, 56),
	color=c("red", "cyan", "blue", "blue", "blue"),
	name=c("CryptoTown", "Kingdom of\nLouhi", "(Speculative)\nStockholm", "(Speculative)\nStockholm", "(Speculative)\nStockholm"),
	size=rep(40, 5)
)
# List counties approximately by their suspected possible location
minor <- data.frame(
	lon=c(27, 26.5, 29, 29.2, 24, 25.5, 30.5, 25.5, 28),
	lat=c(59.25, 52.5, 54.5, 58.95, 57, 58.25, 58.25, 53.5, 53.25),
	color=rep("black", times=9),
	name=c("North Face", "Plath", "Ramsey", "Tavastia", "New Liberty", "Petrichor", "Stonehaven", "White Cross", "Grass"),
	size=rep(10, times=9)
)
# Other foreign powers in vague directions
other <- data.frame(
	lon=c(13, 27, 33, 33, 19.5),
	lat=c(51, 51, 52, 56, 58),
	color=rep("green", times=5),
	name=c("German/French\nthis way", "Poles this way", "Korea\nthis way", "Rossyia\nthis\nway", "Sea of Balticia"),
	size=rep(0, times=5)
)
# Base map
CKmapdraft <- ggmap(CKmap)
points <- rbind(major, minor, other)
# Add major and minor powers
CKmapdraft <- CKmapdraft + geom_point(data = points, 
	aes(x=lon, y=lat), alpha=0.5, color=points[,"color"], size=points[,"size"])
# Add text labels (other foreign powers present only as speculative text)	
CKmapdraft <- CKmapdraft + geom_text(data = points, 
	aes(x=lon, y=lat, label=name), alpha=1)

pdf("CKmap_Syksy_v1_Jan17.pdf", width=7, height=7)
plot(CKmapdraft)
dev.off()

The map is the first known to be produced of CK, and is naturally open to criticism. I'll try gather some here:

15:36 < HM_The_King> Petrichor is certainly off in your map, because
15:36 < HM_The_King> it is between 2 places claimed by GA

[equipoise]

First Speculative Map of CryptoKingdom,
with major and minor powers, as well as general foreign power directions by Lord Syksy has now been drafted.

Based on intuition, reports of scouts, intrigue, as well as scientific mapping and pre-known geography, the following map has been drafted:

Code:

...

Just replaced source="statemen" with source="stamen" and it worked.

p.s. Moreover the pdf saved is in a vector format.

[Syksy]

Just replaced source="statemen" with source="stamen" and it worked.

Thanks for the pointer, fixed this to the code quote! And yep, I prefer PDF, as you can always go from vector graphics to bitmap but not vice versa. Change "pdf" to "png" function and the sizes from inches to pixels, and you'll have a native bitmap figure.



There was quite a bit of political intrigue at the IRC channel today. I wanted to summarize some of my own opinions as well as what I thought could be a course of action, so here they are. Take it with a grain of salt though, as I have danced in the high royal halls for a very brief time, and am not yet very used to political intrigue.

Lord Syksy's Political Intrigue in 1622:

• I would consider diverting Gustaf Adolf's (GA) attention from CK towards the East a priority. We can uphold rather well the ultimatum of religious freedom, but the claims on lands, especially near North Face area, are of concern. We do not have very much knowledge of Rossiyan intentions, and only limited knowledge of Louhi's intentions, but I believe we could play a political game with these 3 to secure our own premises.
• Louhi is known to be a pagan, something that even the liberal Protestants (GA) cannot stand, and certainly something that the Eastern Orthodox (Rossiyans) have an issue with. Furthermore, Louhi's Kingdom, if my map is at all correct, lies within both the sphere of influence between the Swedish kingdom as well as Rossiya's kingdom. I suggest two simultaneous actions: (i) It is known that Rossiya is quite sensitive to having buffer zones and likes having its borders covered. If we can, through political intrigue, make them feel as if Sweden would be coming towards them by attacking Louhi, this might cause Rossiya to pre-emptively seize Louhi's lands. (ii) Simultaneously, the Swedes can be quite easily hinted at the paganism going on at Louhi's lands, that she has been flexing muscles at us, good Christians who hold religious freedom. This might actually provoke GA's attention towards the East, leaving us more space to establish our lands in our North. (iii) Louhi's army is weak in comparison to Sweden and/or Rossiya. If we can make either of them feel confident at attacking Louhi and to seize their land, this should provoke the remaining large nation to respond to this border conflict. Hostilities between Sweden and Rossiya would give us precious time, and possibly weaken them both. Lands of Louhi are rumored to be cold and desolate, and most likely a war in there would result in high casualties. (iv) Finally, if Louhi is crushed by Sweden and/or Rossiya, this leaves our counties at peace which have been approached by Louhi in a semi-hostile manner.
• Prince of Soul has so far been the only Prince to express discontent at the Church and its influence over the matters in the kingdom. Even if his criticism is justified, such harsh criticism in such delicate times may lead to division of the nation. As GA is pressuring us from the North as well as Louhi was flexing muscles, and we never know what the Poles are up to, I would suggest keeping Prince of Soul busy with the Korean counties to avoid division of a nation. A divided nation is a weak nation, prone to be a prey to more organized powers.
• Forging an alliance with the Holy Roman Empire (Imperial Alliance); the German princes have traditionally been good trade companions to us (i.e. wine, other goods), and we have never had any hostilities that I would know of. The HRE/IA is a mighty though divided kingdom that may be a powerful ally, but I would avoid formally joining HRE/IA, as the princes fall under the political influence of the Keizer of Austria. Thus only alliance should be emphasized. HRE/IA has interest in having an ally against GA, as their lands border that of Denmark, which is under Swedish rule, and he who holds lands of Denmark hold the narrow gate to the Baltician sea.

[MoneroMooo]

And here's a second attempt at a map, based on what we know of the land.
I've not based this on actual Estonian/Baltic geography since apparently the mighty D20 may modify it.
This can be moved around and modified as and when new information becomes known. The New Liberty inner sea is completely missing for now. And most of the map is still unknown, waiting to be discovered.

The Estates (manors) are quite close to Cryptotown. Other locations are handwavy for now. Stonehaven is more detailed because I described the geography a bit, I'll try to do the same when I see others do the same. Next step is the inner sea.

Some counties aren't on it, because not much is yet known. Petrichor might be to the right of left of Tavastia, we'll know soon. Same for White Cross and Grass to the south. Probably somewhere between Ramsey and Plath.

The images cuts are from Wesnoth, GPL.

http://imgur.com/yeGcoTT

[rpietila]

Subgame: Science - 1623 - Initial Report

SCI points are the currency of the Science subgame. The subgame causes new scientific advances to be known to the researchers. These might for instance be:
- New production technologies.
- New farming, food-storage, cooking, etc methods.
- New infrastructure technologies.
- New inventions in whatever area.

When a new advance becomes possible, it first appears in the "hinted" category. These are very vague opportunities which require some time passing, or a salvo of SCI, to be spent to make them come to "available" category. This is where the advances are given a SCI value and the outcome if the SCI is spent towards the advance. These may still change based on d20 however, it is not unusual that an advance requires further SCI spend to be fully actionable, or even that it is useless in practice. It may also open new discoveries based on additional spends, or even grant them as immediate bonuses!

New advances are implemented as Pool accounts (characters). The "owner" of the ongoing project is posted here, and arrangements might be made to distribute new knowledge upon its completion, as is the case with the collaborative effort B-22 where the new land in the said Borough is pledged to the contributors in proportion.

Foreign Powers can contribute to our research if they possess the technology and willingness to help. Their maximum contribution is half of the remaining amount, usable only once (per Foreign Power). Letting time pass on partially-researched project is beneficial as well: 10% of the accrued amount, or 10% of the remaining amount (whichever is smaller), can be gained annually as a bonus. Everyone who has contact to new things may propose them to be added to the list of "hinted" projects for GM approval.

It is possible that factions among CK will independently research the advances. If this is wanted to happen in secrecy, contact GM. Inside CK, granting the access to a technology to other factions can be made 100%, so no further spend is needed if the RWWC for instance wants to reveal the secrets of Cannon Making to the Noble Palace.

The organisation in charge of a SCI project must pledge 10 MGR points per advance (to the pool account in question) plus the ASS needed.

SCI once committed to a project cannot be reclaimed. All trades and deals with SCI are final (as are all other trades). The SCI will be consumed only at the completion, so the "SCI exists" includes not only the "SCI available" but also the "SCI committed".

(to be continued with the list of "hinted", "available" and "in progress" SCI projects soon)