Crypto Kingdom - 1991 Retro Virtual World(City)

[rpietila]

In the cold December 13th, 1623 night...

The Royal Palace fire

TL;DR: The Royal Palace burned down in the middle of the night with the loss of many unique, invaluable treasures.


The Royal Palace (1-C-K), burned down in the night following Friday, December 13th. (Not only weird but) Suspicious activity had been occurring for a few days, but the locals were accustomed to it. Right before the fire, strange orders were sent from what was believed to be the King. Right after the fire had started, a dump of 5,000 CKG was ordered, bringing the price down to as low as 650k, erasing all gains since 1607. Thick snow was covering all the area including the roofs of the buildings. Royal Palace main body roof was free-of-snow due to being gilded and inclined.

Flames were sighted from many of the windows simultaneously. When the Royal Palace Guard realized what was going on, they stormed to save the lives and valuables. The Palace was largely empty (except for the guard of 35 who camp in the lowest floor) so no NPC were lost. The fact that the wing buildings (Throne Room and East Wing) roof is horizontal, and allowed the snow to pack, probably saved them. They also acted as buffers towards all the other buildings in the Old Town. (And of course the soldiers tried what they can to save the throne room). No other buildings got any damage. The following items were lost:

GOO-67 The Golden Suit (1450) <- This is intact. Somebody saved it and is asked to return it against a bounty of 100 CKG. (Given to random character)
ART-14 Faberge Egg (1567) <- This cultured era treasure is destroyed
BFR-2 Roof of Royal Palace (1446) <- 6640 CKG was salvaged (rules) but rebuilding it costs approx. 800 mil
BRO-1 Gilded, Silvered Brass Mantelpiece (1582) <- Took heavy damage
CAF-4 Blue Room Table & 6 Chairs (1446) <- Burned
GIL-3 A large collection of various items gifted to the King <- Destroyed
GIO-31 Snake skin boots <- Lost
WOC-1 Carpet to the Blue Room (1442) <- Burned, 60 CKG salvaged from this blue carpet
WOU-2 Curtains to the Blue Room (1442) <- Burned down.

More valuables may be found missing and/or destroyed after the complete extent of the destruction is known.


The events in the night leave much room for speculation:
- It has been rumored that the King had not fulfilled his Magnificence MGN -quota of 44 MGR-points assisted, but this has 1) always been the case historically and 2) was not even the case right now after the promotions.
- The wisdom experiments had taken a surprising turn. But the King himself was not even in the palace - nobody saw him on the scene or escaping from the building. He slept a good night in the Palace of Culture & Science where he had been planning SCI with HH of North Face. He only saw the ruins of his Palace upon returning to 1-C in the early morning.
- Some of the King's enemies or foreign powers is involved.
- Accident. [IRL, Malla has burned down approximately once in a century.]
- (your turn).


The Royal Palace was the first large building project in town in 1432-1446. It was extensively renovated in 1603 after the earthquake with all very elaborate facades (original ones had been rustic). Prior to the fire, it generated 4% of the Kingdom's (CUL+IC), but this has now been reduced to about 1/3 of the previous level effective next year.

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[noms]

225th Jubilee Raffle - Great Prizes!

Prizes Awarded

1 * Grand Prize: Any Real Estate up to the value of 500,000,000 m (in the whole game, you pick, King pays   )[/b]

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!!

I'd like to post 4 properties that are potential options for the winner, listed at 500 mil:

Options for raffle winners (all but last are 500 mil)


Either 2-NE-N11 or 2-NE-N12:   fully gardened, overlooking a 2000 sqm park. Stone's throw from the Triple Towers. total sqm: 600 sqm. floor sqm: 144, terrace sqm: 170, garden sqm: 333. D-SHA: 919

3-E-F4: fully built house overlooking 1600 sqm park.  60-70 meters from the Palace of Culture & Science  (the center of borough 3). Total stone: 518200. Total sqm: 318, D-SHa: 660


5-C-A6 (S. San Pietro St. 3): 10m from San Pietro in the center of 5-C. Pristine location. floor sqm: 290. terrace sqm: 108. Garden area: 142. This house should probably be more than 500 mil, but I am putting it up for sale because I have 2 of them next to each other. 2094 D-SHA! 600 mil.


-Note: these properties are available for purchase by the raffle winner. However, if you'd like to purchase them, they all have asks listed in CK Ultima.

Additionally, there is a new prize of a 100 mil property. I have the following properties listed at this pricerange:

4-SE-N6 + 4-SE-N8 = listed for 120 but on sale for 100 mil. These lots are located in the 4th borough directly within the Research Park area. They are on paved streets, and have full level 1 groundwork included (no need to build pedestals to build since they are on swamp). You can get both of them (total of 8q land) for this price.

3-E-F18 - This lot is 4q and is located in 3-E, only 30m as the crow flies from the Palace of Culture which is directly in the center of 3-C.  A great chance to get a premium lot at a discounted price of 100 mil (30% off special)!

Lastly, we have the following properties for 100 mil: 9-NW-C5 + 9-NW-C9 + 9-NW-C10 + 9-NW-C11. These 4 properties are a total of 9q, and are in the newly created 9-NW chapelry. They are across the street from The Quad, a 1600 sqm park.  They include 100 m of street access (perfect for shops). This is a great investment for a new land baron!

[rpietila]

The Royal Palace fire

The King gazes at the smoking ruins of his historical, cozy, once even Great, palace. The game has surely taken a turn towards the new direction. Last time the gamemastering was in serious question was in 1608, with the Plague decimating the wine and spirit stores of the peers and ravaging the ancient lower middle class with the high costs of staying alive. The previous calamity was the Earthquake in 1600, laying waste to 7 great buildings with losses to the players amounting to billions.

This time, strangely enough, the most immediate losses were suffered in the gold markets while the fire was still raging. The mysterious, probably well-timed dump from King's treasury had brought his balance up to 7 bil, but the arbitraging from other players during the early hours had brought it back to the starting point, below 4 bil. The only net result so far is that King has less gold due to selling it cheaper to Coinshop bids than what the others sold to King's bids.

Therefore the first thing to organize was the gold market. All King's and Coinshop's existing offers were cleared and coinshop seeded the market with laddered buy and sell offers in all gold coins, eg.

CR1418E, 5 CKG gold coin

5,063,000 1 Coinshop
4,801,000 1 Coinshop
4,538,000 1 Coinshop
4,407,000 2 Coinshop

^- ask --- bid -v

3,627,000 1 Coinshop
3,492,000 2 Coinshop
3,358,000 20 Coinshop.


Now it is again possible to enlarge your collection of gold coins, due to the very cheap premiums the Coinshop is asking, and the large selection available (all is put for sale with ask in more than 100 items!)

The King moves on with the organizing work, to make sure that the slaughter of pigs is carried out on time despite the catastrophe. And also the RAF-1 tickets need to be halved, although it sounds a bit ironic against the silhouette of the ruined Palace 

[rpietila]

225th Jubilee Raffle - Great Prizes!

12 halvings are done, and only 35 tickets remain! The historical Cognac, CLXII, was awarded to these. The tickets are still in 16 different hands (char_id's (3, 6, 7, 11, 19, 26, 31, 36, 54, 64, 88, 94, 113, 131, 173, 66))!!


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!
191 * MIN-5 given to 48 chars!
86 * CS1625E given to 34 chars!
35 * CLXII given to 16 chars!


Best Prizes Still Remaining

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

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: 2,000,000,000 m !
(Expected value of a ticket: 57 mil(!))

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!!

King has listed the "500 mil real estate": Hotel King's Guesthouse (1-N-J17). This is one of the 2 private properties located closest to the Royal Palace compound in 1-C/1-N. The distance to the wall of the detached Royal Wine Cellar is 6 m! The other one is Dr. Choo Townhouse from 1436 on the Earls' St. side. He had it on the market for 1,000 mil decades ago but then decided that it is not for sale. The building that King's Guesthouse shares a wall with, Rhadamanthus' Palace, was sold about 20 years ago for 1,400 mil to its current owner, Baron Lloyd IV.

Heimo has a piece of land with currently a placeholder hut in the prestigious 1-E area for the 100 mil option.

Heimo also listed the remaining units in Garden Row (2-SE) for sale, 49 mil each. Designated homes (or 2nd homes), they produce 4-5 (CUL+IC) each, for a very nice 2-3% ROI on the IC market value only. Now can middle class people get a home!

[rpietila]

Update on food markets:

The annual spoil of MEAT and FOIE (5%) is administered. We will probably move to 10% spoil each other year, to reduce the need to set up the asks that are cleared when spoil takes effect. (The system is already in force with NPC and suits). Also new MEAT is produced to Manors and FOIE to S-FOI holders!

BEER was produced some time ago already.

Only 7.5 realhours remain until yearchange. Make your purchases (and sales) now!



ADD: Land taxes and building dividends will still happen. The county reports and quests will need to wait some time still.

King's quest is now to find the culprit for the fire and punish him!


ADD: The turmoil in the markets has lead Martti to cashflow crisis, the first tough problem in his so far tranquil life!

[papa_lazzarou]

King's quest is now to find the culprit for the fire and punish him!

[newb4now]

This thread is rather hard to follow for someone who does not have a lot of time to devote. Is someone in the process of creating user guide with all the basic rules of the games?

[Red Erin]

The year end is approaching, and at Pada Manor, this means meat.

Pigs were slaughtered recently, and meat was brought to market, though not yet sold. This should be done in the first few months of the year, when people start caring for their health.

News of the fire at the palace came back quickly. There are rumors that this wasn't an accident. With the tensions coming from Aaspere, people were a bit blindsided, and didn't expect any such news to come from the city itself.

A week has passde, and Pada has no guard yet. Orders are placed on the market, and we hope to hire a few people next week. No new officers are available now, ohwever, which may cause a bit of trouble. Hopefully this changes soon.

For now, the workers are going to enjoy a well earned break, watching the snow covered landscape from inside their homes.

[rpietila]

This thread is rather hard to follow for someone who does not have a lot of time to devote. Is someone in the process of creating user guide with all the basic rules of the games?

Hi! The challenge with user guide is that the game is so much in development all the time (and will be for a long time to come) that no matter how perfect a guide someone writes, it will still be outdated in quite a short time. Also the playing (and the things that the guide should include) is incredibly different for people in entry levels and in higher levels. And it is possible to get to higher levels quick as well, without having enough time to master the previous levels.

My recent attempt to write a story in the eyes of a newbie commoner. It is continuing every day! Hope you like

[newb4now]

This thread is rather hard to follow for someone who does not have a lot of time to devote. Is someone in the process of creating user guide with all the basic rules of the games?

Hi! The challenge with user guide is that the game is so much in development all the time (and will be for a long time to come) that no matter how perfect a guide someone writes, it will still be outdated in quite a short time. Also the playing (and the things that the guide should include) is incredibly different for people in entry levels and in higher levels. And it is possible to get to higher levels quick as well, without having enough time to master the previous levels.

My recent attempt to write a story in the eyes of a newbie commoner. It is continuing every day! Hope you like

Thank you. That blog post is helpful to prospective newcomers to the game like me.

[Syksy]

This thread is rather hard to follow for someone who does not have a lot of time to devote. Is someone in the process of creating user guide with all the basic rules of the games?

This is true - I am in the process of creating a new player friendly Wiki, which partly works as an information gather center, partly as a manual as well as an introduction.

Right now the best beginner introduction is Martti's blog, which pretty much is an introduction to the game in its self! Basically a freebie character testing, where step by step introduction is shown to different concepts in the game, and how a person might make a profit without a XMR deposit.

EDIT: Oh, it had already been answered - should refresh more often

[rpietila]

Information

Again, dev milestone is completed and paid, and town is completely debt-free except for consols (whose purpose is to add an economic anchor to the game mainly).

This year, a dividend of 1,500 will be paid for CKG. Its midprice is 81 mil, so its dividend return is almost 0.2% now.

Health Challenge is initialized. Tomorrow we will see the deaths.

Also a few of the year change scripts will be done tomorrow.

[rpietila]

225th Jubilee Raffle - Great Prizes!

13 halvings are done, and only 16 tickets remain! This time, 2 prizes were given, WOS-E1 and MIR, with aggregate value of about 6 mil! The tickets are still in 10 different hands (char_id's (3, 6, 26, 31, 64, 88, 94, 113, 173, 66))!!


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!
191 * MIN-5 given to 48 chars!
86 * CS1625E given to 34 chars!
35 * CLXII given to 16 chars!
16 * WOS-E1 (Green Suit, gift of HH The Mayor)
16 * MIR (Venetian Mirror 1 sqm, gift of HH The Duke of New Liberty)

Best Prizes Still Remaining

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

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: 1,900,000,000 m !
(Expected value of a ticket: >100 mil(!))

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. 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!!

King has listed the "500 mil real estate": Hotel King's Guesthouse (1-N-J17). This is one of the 2 private properties located closest to the Royal Palace compound in 1-C/1-N. The distance to the wall of the detached Royal Wine Cellar is 6 m! The other one is Dr. Choo Townhouse from 1436 on the Earls' St. side. He had it on the market for 1,000 mil decades ago but then decided that it is not for sale. The building that King's Guesthouse shares a wall with, Rhadamanthus' Palace, was sold about 20 years ago for 1,400 mil to its current owner, Baron Lloyd IV.

[rpietila]

All CUL, IC, SCI, m dividends given to NPC, land. All salaries and taxes charged.
Our CUL+IC production is about 8,500 / year and SCI production about 6,000 / year.


Notice. The following characters have negative balance. Please fix the situation immediately. All negative balances will be cleared before the Jubilee!

63   RoundTable   The Ancient Fellowship of the Knights of the Round Table   1523   101   0   0   1523   -247,093,327   
189   Grass   TA Marquessate of Grass   TA Corporation of the Marquessate of Grass   1621   1621   3   0         -217,590,349   0   0
14   binaryFate   The Marquess of Naoned   The Marquess of Naoned   1398   1418   1607   -171,953,513   21,269   3,200
61   NRC   New Reconstruction Corp   TA Corporation   1522   1522   102   0   0   1522   -111,500,000   0   75,000
177   NewLiberty-C   TMA Duchy of New Liberty   TMA Corporation of the Duchy of New Liberty         -95,154,673
193   WhiteCross   The Marquessate of White Cross   The Corporation of the Marquessate of White Cross         -94,729,853
48   OldDuchy   TVA Duchy   The Corporation of TVA Duchy   1466   1466   158   0   0   1466   -77,311,606   13,406   8,985
184   Ramsey   TA Duchy of Ramsey   TA Corporation of the Duchy of Ramsey   1621   1621   3   0         -75,179,948   2   0
8   drfred   Lord drfred   Baron   1389   1420   235   0   13   1570   -60,641,820   2,076   100
89   bytemuma   bytemuma   Expert   1564   1584   60   0   5   1607   -39,298,986   88   100
106   zrue   zrue   Novice   1581   1600   43   0   5   1606   -37,007,135   84   360
196   Petrichor   The County of Petrichor   The Corporation of the County of Petrichor   1621   1621   3   0         -35,247,001   0   0
91   Angus   Angus Greenthumb   Lord Angus of Haljala, RM   1569   1589   55   0   13   1621   -27,436,340   536   800
197   Stonehaven   The County of Stonehaven   The Corporation of the County of Stonehaven      -23,552,479   1   0
120   Cryptonic   Lord Cryptonic   Baron   1579   1600   45   0   13   1616   -13,729,121   307   100
116   Antoninus   Antoninus   Novice   1565   1600   59   0   5   1616   -13,109,833   119   0
164   Xanne         1598   1619   26   0         -10,409,626   60   0
20   serje   Lord serje   TMA Lord serje   1389   1420   235   0   13   1621   -5,303,015   376   525
111   goin2mars   Master goin2mars   Master   1570   1600   54   0   6   1616   -2,923,899   958   0

[rpietila]

Tidings from Counties, 1623
The status of this post is COMPLETED. New info in blue.

"Loot" + PRE points, though, will be divided "soon" so they cannot yet be found in the county accounts.

One more PRE accumulation round and the prizes of up to 500*CKG will be awarded.


(Name of County - PRE total - PRE from 1623)

NorthFace - 44 - 14

The Duchy of North Face is reputed vast, but despite the PRE accumulated, little first hand information exists. The orders have been to stick to the main camp which is in the southern side of the region because of climate. Little locals have been sighted and while they do not exactly seem poor, their wealth is well hidden as they are nomads, skilled in trade, and well equipped and armed. The area is claimed by Queen Louhi, CK and HKM Gustaf Adolf, but none of them seems to have much going on in there, because the latest orders from the Duke were to have the camp evacuated and troops moved to the south, where they happened to just tip the scales in the Campaign on the River, not that it mattered much because at the time of the "Final Battle", the treaty had already been signed. The Duke is left pondering what to do with the land mass as the mere surveying of it is dangerous and few immediate benefits are obtainable. The King is dreaming of the mystical Ultima Thule in the far north, where it becomes warm again after the inhospitable cold that must be traversed to get there. (QUEST given).

No further GM events from 1623.


Plath - 37 - 13

Despite being only a County, Plath has been raking in PRE at a commendable pace. The initial encounter of CK expansion, "The Ambush", happened there as well. The area is in the border of deeply-catholic Polonia, but they have not sent a high emissary to Sir Crichton, because they feel a Duke is required from our side to the negotiations as well. Ramsey is the closest Duke to the county at the moment. From the intelligence gathered, Polonia and Sweden are not at war for now but tensions are very high. Plath is in the inland with the nearest coastal town being the Free City of Danzig. The capital of Polonia, Krakow, is further inland. Unlike Sweden that is a centralized country, Polonia is more populous but with nobles doing what they wish. The preparations of Sir Crichton advanced peacefully despite Prince Boguslaw's claim to the territory. Probably the local powers were just happy that we were at war with Sweden, their archenemy. They get this kind of information much faster than we can even dissipate it inside the Kingdom, because of the sea communications in Östersjön (using the Swedish name for the great lake, on which at least Stockholm, (preparation site of) Paldiski, Riga and Danzig are located). The north side of Östersjön is ice-free 4/7 months a year, the south is more erratic but usually 6/7 months. The final month before the ice is known of heavy storms and navigation is treacherous. (ASK for QUEST).

Spies report interesting developments from Polonia. The Power is deeply catholic but not in the Imperial Alliance. It is also not at war with Sweden right now. The internal situation is precarious with competing dukes striving for control. No foreign activity has been spotted in Plath. To take advantage of the situation, HM The King creates a new county, Ironlock, which encompasses the territory south of New Liberty and northwest of Plath, including the seashore all the way to the Free City of Danzig. HH The Duke of North Face is created Earl of Ironlock and exhorted to station forces there (promotion will be ratified in the Jubilee as many other promised and surprise promotions).


Ramsey - 33 - 12

Getting along with the locals with no taxes levied to them, the Duchy of Ramsey survey is going on very well. The "west sea" (Östersjön when seen from the Swedish coast) was found but believed to be New Liberty territory. New Liberty forces had spent their time in the northernmost tip of their duchy so unable to explore this side. The command post has been kept at the same place all the time and even the locals have been referring it to as Baghdad, which had to have been a joke originally, but the jokes.. they sometimes stick. Some patrols were sent to the south, leaving Plath to their right-hand side, and as far as they went, no change in the conditions was observed. "This land is HUGE." To the east, some mystical phenomena was experienced, and the scouts turned back, believing that White Cross was there with its special conditions and capable leadership. (QUEST awaiting, ping GM).

Presumably after hearing about CK alliance with Sweden, some of the peasants in Ramsey have grown markedly more restless. Sweden had plundered the area some years ago when it still belonged to Polonia. Marauders have even appeared to disturb our logistics there. Perhaps stationing more forces might help (especially mounted), and defining the borders more clearly.


FSpagnolo - 28 - 11

Greetings from HE The Prince of Forte Spagnolo! After decades of no see, I am glad to report to your expeditionary force that I am fine. A quick recoup of the events follows:
- The roots of this place date back to the very first year the game was conceived.
- In 1504, I took the project of building a mighty citadel here to expand Crypto Kingdom to civilized lands. For this project, HM The King donated 80,000 CKG. I had sXpher, my loyal servant, with me, and we took on this huge project.
- In the 1500s and especially during the times of turmoil, it became clear that this project was too large for CK to utilize perfectly. Also the CKG was not accepted as payment for the workers so foreign currency was needed.
- Baron sXpher died in 1600, which was a shock to me. Also in CryptoTown they started building a more nimble project. Initially in sad feelings, I felt for my beloved Forte Spagnolo and built a vineyard here. As you see, I am still in excellent health, this climate is more than suitable!
- I am very happy to see the Kingdom is doing good, and here I can concentrate on other projects such as perfecting the monetary system.
- Please send troops and money for buying cannons, because now it is more important that this outpost is kept as the Kingdom is expanding and - while here it is peaceful - tensions are mounting in the north.
(storytelling coordinated with fluffypony, The Prince)


NewLiberty-C - 27 - 12

The troops' movements have been duly reported and the civilian team moved with them, hampering the progress. On the other hand, HH The Duke in his new position as Ambassador, has been able to gather intelligence. New Liberty is a large Duchy with Riga as its historical centerpoint. (According to some sources, even Stockholm lies on the lands of the original Duchy. As the safety of Riga is guaranteed, and the lands in the other side ceded to Sweden, and even the Threestone preparation site given back to them, the problem becomes that in this large coastline, there is no logical place for a Seat that would also be located in the coast! Towns may not be started too close to each other, it is against the rules. According to the terms of the Treaty, we have taken the responsibility of the protection of Riga, which is not a chore to the New Liberty troops - they in fact quite like the libertarian nightlife of this small and war-ravaged but energetic town.

No further GM events from 1623.


OldDuchy - 26 - 10

OldDuchy's own PRE gain plummeted when the 100*OTH were busy with laying the stone to the ground that the other counties provided. The paved road now leads from Old Town to San Pietro and in the north facade of the (planned) Versailles palace, dividing with one branch going to Haljala (this one is not paved yet) and the other one to Essu and even a bit beyond (this one is fully paved, 4 m wide, except around Versailles where huge squares have been laid). Otherwise the Old Duchy troops, what were left after the 1st Regiment took to the north, have remained stationary. The recent reports of Rossiyan action in the north have not yet lead to retaliation. Some VOD with no taxes paid have been found in the town, and the recent mapping of all the Urban Boroughs (go and check the Town Map with the navigation arrows) has lead to the idea that the perimeter of the whole town be fortified with a stone wall, inner side sloping. The guards could walk on the top, and from outside, rising to the top in the middle of the night would be easy with a wooden ladder, but disposing of the ladder would not be easy, so intruders would reveal themselves and the tax revenues would be secured.

As already discussed, the situation with restless Rossiyans in the thick woods and sharp (but low) hills between OldDuchy and Stonehaven needs to be pacified.


WhiteCross - 26 - 12

White Cross has gained a mystical feeling with its "element boroughs" but we can assure it is a physical land. The characteristics are just special, and also what is weird is the lack of human locals there. This usually means that special creatures inhabit the land, for good and bad. With the absence of contact - not only to leaders but to anyone! - the expedition force has a free decision in which of the Boroughs to settle and start preparations for establishing the County Seat.

Nice luck there - the explorers found a speaking gold unicorn, who submitted to your service and granted a wish!


Stonehaven - 21 - 8

What can be said of this is mostly in the war chronicles already. As the county is located so close and so many troops have marched to and fro and even had the "Final Battle of the Campaign on the River 1623" in the area, we know this place reasonably well. The River, which is the northern border, flows slowly, so we can conclude that there is not much elevation. The plain continues to approximately half of the county to the south, from where small hills and then sharp hills begin. That is the way to get back home. In the east, not too far from the preparation site, the Swedes have their outpost, and beyond that, nobody has yet been able to go. To the west, our outpost is near Paldiski (mouth of the river). In the South(-East), Rossiyan thugs are trying to expand their influence. The land is not rich (refer to the name of the county!) but with a good connection to CryptoTown (yet to be constructed), this could become a handy source of crispbread and horses, meat and even VEG.

No further GM events from 1623.


Grass - 19 - 7

The Grass-lands continue as far as eye can see, and turn richer as we go. The lack of 1 PRE-point prevented an important meeting, but we are sure to hear of it next year. (QUEST given).

No events from 1623.


Tavastia - 17 - 8

The contact to the Tavastia camp was finally made. They had explored the land and made the preparation site where they believed the economic centerpoint is located (about 40% towards the supposed North Face border from the River, and also 40% from the "west sea" towards the eastern border). To make the decision easier, near the location, the ruins of a mighty medieval castle was found, so good energies abounded there. The place was from early on named the House of Tavastia. The locals were submissive and had good horses (H2), some of which were pressed for service, against compensation of course. It is here that the crispbread originates, because this is so far north that VEG are still being cultivated, yet too far that they could be a reliable food source during the winter, yet the place is too populated that there would be enough meat for all (from game) unlike further north, where game abounds yet people are sparse.

No events from 1623.


Petrichor - 15 - 7

This pesky group also, had been in their mission for quite a long time. From the river crossing, they turned to the east, upstream. After some time there were no plains even by the river, so they took a 90° turn towards the north, and after considerable time (but possibly less distance) arrived in the village of Sisu. What is in there, you have already seen. The Swedes had been in the area a few years ago, but abandoned it as too poor (and not even good horses). The northern border of the county is a bit weird, there are bodies of water with something mystical on them. The locals do not dare to venture that way so no information can be found. To the west, albeit after an arduous journey through thick woods, lies Tavastia. The people there (as do many in Stonehaven) speak the same language. To the east, a lightly forested area, unfit for farming, and hellishly cold in the winter, opens far and wide. If it is even possible to imagine, these people from their ur-lowly starting point, have historically escaped the looters there, and they keep stores of supplies hidden in the vast hinterland.
[/quote]

A contact was made from hostile local Rossiyans in the south. Some wounds, no fatalities. Sisu people say that "it just happens".

[noms]

Last year, in the late summer, The Marquess had sent three specialists out to look for the boroughs.

*snip*

I've found it! he exclaimed excitedly.  I found the Water Borough!   Noms was hoping for some news, as his bottle was getting empty and he had not much to do this night.  After talking with the specialist, it was determined that that part of the County was not made of water, but filled with underwater springs. The specialist had spoken to a few of the locals, and while it was not clear that the water was special in any way, the seemed to regard it as if it were magical.  



This news made The Marquess immediately think of Zenon and his experiments with the 'Silver Water' Medinical Vodka.  Perhaps this water could be one of the missing ingredients in a potent magical blend?  Or, perhaps the MUS that The Marquess had consumed earlier that night was making him make connections that were not there. At any rate, it might be worth sending someone more scientific to the water area to take some samples. At the very least, a clean, clear water source was found that could prove very useful for the county.

Nice luck there - the explorers found a speaking gold unicorn, who submitted to your service and granted a wish!

The news of the speaking golden unicorn granting the county a wish was very exciting to noms. His SPEcialist had returned and told of a magical underwater springs that he had discovered in the Water Borough. He had initially thought about Zenon and how he was tirelessly searching for a health cure for all that was effective and, not that he would ever tell Zenon, not working very well as of yet.

He decided that his wish would be that the water from the magical underwater springs was the missing ingredient in a new potent magical blend. He would be very happy for the town to have this new product to test, and committed to send at least 10 cases of it to Zenon for further testing if, by any chance, this magical unicorn decided to grant the wish.

He told this wish to the golden unicorn and he looked up at the sky, back to The Marquess, and said, "We shall let the dice decide."  This was very confusing to The Marquess, as he was expecting the unicorn to say "let God decide," but he was nothing if not an adaptable man. He lit up 1xCOH and sat back to ponder this potential new turn of events.

[rpietila]

King's storytelling post January 1624

Whew what a year full of events 1623 was. First we embarked on a limited war against the Swedes who needed to be shown that they don't own the north. While our troops gained victory, New Liberty managed to negotiate an Embassy with Sweden, with a scientific research treaty. This was accepted and research will start now. Spies from Plath brought most interesting tidings about the weakness in Polonia. As Sweden is now our ally, they will likely take advantage of the situation there soon as well, and we might join in. At the same time Rossiyans are restless in the east, and Prince of Soul is - as we speak - (hopefully) negotiating with their leaders in Moscow, and we will likely hear the news by the end of the year. Not all is fine, though: in a cold December night, the Royal Palace caught fire and only the wings were spared, luckily Throne Room is situated in the wing. King's army also suffered heavily on the kill rolls, with eg. only 7*MSGM (between all King, OldDuchy, Zech and Tavastia forces), and even more alarmingly, 8*LT between all of them! Cannon production on the other hand is in full speed with 18 cannons commissioned for King's troops alone and more for sale for the others. A new cannon comes for public sale every month to a lower price point than the previous.

To not overextend ourselves, our (Royal our) priorities for the next 2 years will be first and foremost in the 225th Jubilee. We have now accepted that we are not likely living to the quartermillennial one. It is very good that HRH Zechariah, the Prince Royal has finally grown up to be of Royal stature, not only a businessman, but first and foremost a mighty war hero, commander, manager, leader, and soon - statesman.

Getting the research priorities right is the Mayor's duty, but we will help in what we can. Kingdom-wide, this is perhaps the first priority.

The army needs reorganizing until we get a functional system. The demise of the Swedes in the Campaign on the River was caused by spreading forces too thin. As units fight 1:1, superior BV is paramount. Tentatively, our idea is to make the Regiments the main field army and research Combined Arms as soon as feasible. Then our Kingdom and Duchy level main forces would be 200-250 BV each. They would be supplemented by mobile Companies for quick deployments and raids. The Manor and County level stationary forces would be treated as Garrison, so that they do not appear in the Unit roll (Game DB /Army) and in Manor level no officers would be needed. The PC who have an officer rank and live with the troops, can be counted towards the BV. King will first try out if this system offers the advantages sought.

Last year saw 18 new characters, a record. The development is going well with The Wizard Developer now full time working for us. The entrance to new players will be lowered, kinks ironed out, new commoner features such as a "Lot raffle" (not raffling the lots, but having the lots in the Town Map granting prizes for characters roaming around) coming.

[djjacket]

Current Kingdom SCIentific Projects

It is VERY clear that the kingdom is in dire need of Scientific advances!  The latest battle showed that some luck and sheer numbers was involved with wining a battle against forces with high technology weaponry.  We may not be so lucky next time.  

Defense
 - Musket Production - 12.5k SCI remaining -  Have 7,500 Credit from captured muskets sent to RWCC for dis-assembly and study

  This project will benefit all who have military/defense troops by increasing BV of lower level troops.

Infrastructure/Travel
- Engineering - 7.5k SCI remaining - This will allow for new NPC types, possible efficiency in building, and alternate promotion paths for OTH/SPE.

   The Mayor has committed 2,500 SCI from the town for this project - this is a very important advancement that can lead to additional advancements
   Please consider contributing to this project

General Science
 - Printing Press - 5k SCI remaining - Treaty with GA will require this and will supply 1/2 of required SCI (5k)


Please send give SCI to Town the with the [comment] - SCI-MSK,SCI-ENG,SCI-PP to designate the purpose until further mechanics are established.

give SCI XXX Town [SCI-MSK,SCI-ENG or SCI-PP]

[noms]

Noms looked over his finances later that month and he noticed that he was short on a couple of silver coins. He immediately went to Agora Marketplace and was able to complete the holes in his collection!




He is happy to announce that he now has collected every single silver coin in Crypto Kingdom!  He is even privy to a very strange coin he found. The Item Number of that particular coin is CP1300E, yet the coin says it was made in 1622.  This coin was to be had for only 15 million, and if it could possibly be true that it was from 1300, this is quite a find indeed!  

As he was talking in the Gilded Goose with The Duke of North Face over a nice selection of VODka and CAViar, The Duke mentioned the coin that he had purchased, and asked a number of questions about it:

<SirJacket> Maybe you would be interested finding more information about them?
<SirJacket> I am organizing a party to collect information about them
<SirJacket> now that you have one, you can help with the information gathering - maybe you can talk to some of the nobles in town who have mentioned it
<SirJacket> or ask around in the taverns
<SirJacket> taverns
<SirJacket> I have enlisted help from Syksy-an expert of Louhi and moneromooo - a cleaver and wise one
<SirJacket> Now that you own one of the coins, you surely can see how interesting and mysterious they truly are

Noms was intrigued, and suddenly his slightly expensive purchase had already proved its worth in curiosity...

[rpietila]

Army supplies available

* University has listed the 10*LT for sale (22-40 mil). Since the prices are crazy, list your excess LT for sale and upgrade them to CAPT or even MAJ now!
* Labor has listed H1 for sale (2-2.7), H2 (5-7).
* The bid for a H4 is already 15 mil and very few of the higher level horses are for sale, please list yours or make bids!
* 4*CANN for sale (24-40).
* PTE price range (4-7), even CPL for sale (13)
* King will update his bid/ask soon, he cannot buy from the lowered Labor bids in the first 60 minutes anyway!
* Prices for unsold NPC/HH will be lowered 1-2 times in a quick succession, after which they will be more sticky.

Note on horses: the peasants did not like the random confiscations of horses at all, so we asked them to bring them for sale instead. H1 normal price is 2 mil, H2 (battleworthy but no bonus) is 5 mil. The Main Army will pay these prices retroactively for all horses pressed on duty during the campaign in the Kunda--Stonehaven Prep area. This is exhorted to others as well (GIVE M amount LABOR).

In Ramsey we did not even do anything and the peasants are growing restless

FluffyHorse's special ability - Stables - in the future means that they will get a free refill every spring.