Empire 6: Embers of Dawn IC

[Silent_Interim]

The Great Scrimthun Unity
Glory be to Thun, which remembers what it is owed.
(Round 20)


(Regions: 53, 59, 60, 61, 62, 65, 69)
Leader: Thunspeaker Atir, First-Born of Arrakh-Rah, Keeper of Fables
D: 5+1 | M: 6+1 | O: 5 | F: 4 | I: 3+1

Actions:

1. [Diplomacy 5] Create Embassy: Create an embassy with the Arrakhi Sundom (ARK).
   Atir once sat on the council of advisors for the Thalaz’ir, and for many years now the Unity have been loyal followers of the Trinity. In recognition of their mutual bonds, and in the hope of lasting peace, Atir reaches West to establish the same ties between the Sundom and the Unity that already exist between the Unity and the Night Kingdom. Together, under the light of sun, moon, and stars, the Scrim will continue to work in partnership with the Arrakhi to forge a brighter future for both.
2. [Diplomacy] Stabilize Region 62. Spend 1 treasure. Success! Roll
   Conquest bears a burden. To their ongoing irritation, Atir lacks their predecessor's alacrity in bearing it. Nevertheless, it must be borne, and so it will. Such is the will of the Thunspeaker.
3. [Military] Send a candidate to the Sentinels of Stone for the Trials of Iron.
   Who can say why the Watchers do what they do? At the request of Warspeaker Steady-Hand, one of Atir's most loyal servants, a young Watcher, one who has not yet earned a name, is sent to the Sentinels for evaluation in their so-called Trials. The Watcher in question is small and lithe, but almost preternaturally quick, and an absolutely brutal fighter with the knives he favours. While his youth makes him inexperienced, he is also highly adaptable- a quality that will probably be of more use to the Sentinels than to the Unity.
4. [Military] Crush rebels in region 7.
   
   • Warspeaker Steady-Hand (10) leads.
   • Send 4 land units.
   • 55 > 54 (>) 27 > 25 > 24 > 23 > 17 > 8 > 7, for an effective total of 9 regions travelled. With DSP rep, take only 10% distance losses, 0.4 rounds to 0. Mountaineer clothing allows traversal from 54 to 27.
   • Challenge rebel leader to duel with Trinity of Light shared dueling CI.
   • Use the Endurance of the Earth TacDoc. (Mil 6 + 2 War Drums - Army Size 1 = +7. -10% friendly casualties and +2 friendly leader loss)
   • Spoiler: Techs

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     • Scouts and Logistics: War Drums (+2 TacMan)
     • Ranged Weaponry: Recurve Bows (+2 battle)
     • Special Materials: Bronze (+1 Battle, +1 leader loss)
     • Armor: Uzii Battlesmithing (-10% casualties)

     
     
   • Spend 1 treasure.
   • 10 leader + 4 units + 2 + 1 + 1 = +18 battle roll. +7 TacMan, -10% casualties, +1 leader loss.
5. [Intrigue] Investigate and root out Mockery activity around Thun. Spend 1 treasure. Roll=11
6. [Intrigue] Secret. Spend 1 treasure.

Non-Actions:
Standard:

• Attend any events to which we are invited.
• Resist all unsupported buyouts with a +1 against those without Coinage.
• Resist all sacks at a +2 from Masonry and Advanced Masonry; resist raids at a +4 from those and Towers of Light.
• Resist thefts, assassinations, kidnappings, and spark rebellions (including secret ones) with a +1 from Eyes Above.
• Resist secret actions at an additional +2 from Keeper of Fables.
• Resist all unapproved Errant Quests in our territory.
• Support all conversions to the Trinity of Light; resist all others with a +1 from Writing (Hraban Runes).
• Gain 2 Treasure at the beginning of the next round from passive income. Earlier trade continues to pay dividends. But plague is the enemy of free, open, and honest trade, and Thun's share of trade suffers as the world's does.
  Organizations:
• Urge the Dreamspeakers to put on hold their investigations into the stirrings of the Twilight Sight until more information can be gathered.
  Embassy
• Receive Three-Wind Bows from the Night Kingdom (NTK).
• Accept War Drums, Bronze, Viskari War Bows, Treasure Ships, and Cloud Striders from the Shattered Bulwark (UZI).
• Note the acceptanmce of an... embassy?... with the Symphony of Kalatar (SAN) from the Shattered Bulwark?
  Other:
• Retire Warspeaker Arman, to be replaced by Tulao, the Ember Twin.
  Arman is an old man. Even the strongest of old men can only hold on for so long. With the love of his life gone, he has so little left to hold on for. When he passes in his sleep one calm night, his body is returned to Arkusa, to be dealt with according to their customs.
  Though many expect the Thunspeaker to appoint the strange newcomer Tulao to the position of Warspeaker, now that Arman no longer occupies it, for some unknown reason Atir has delayed making the appointment. They claim that Tulao still needs more training, but Warspeaker Steady-Hand has already proclaimed them combat-ready. Whatever the reason, neither Tulao nor Atir seem to care about the delay, and Tulao lurks at the Thunspeaker's court, watching the comings and goings, quietly menacing in the background.

News and Rumors:

• The Unity is slow to react to the news of plagues. After all, the Scrim have never been troubled by such things. Why should they begin now? When reports come of an outbreak of Scale Pox on Varai-Ledes, they assume that the matter must be overblown, as they have seen their human subjects deal with that same disease countless times. But when the reports come that the sick are not only numerous but unusually affected, the Thunspeaker finally begins paying attention.
• The new Thunspeaker has begun taking to writing parables, which are then distributed to their intended recipients by special Dreamspeaker envoy, as well as to anyone else within earshot when the message is delivered.
• In concert with a few master crafts-Scrim, and with the blessing of the Thalaz’ir, the Thunspeaker commands the beginning of a new undertaking. Twin blocks of Comet Stone and Ember Stone are brought to Thun, to be shaped anew, into Scrim.
  The effort is long, and difficult. This is not the sort of stone these masons are used to; and there is a feeling that when the stone is spoken to, it listens only for what it wishes to hear, not taking on the lessons it is averse to. Despite the difficulties, the crafts-Scrim eventually finish, and the time comes to animate them. Each is given a piece of the Thunspeaker's own stone, along with emeralds at their hearts, to awaken them.
  And awaken they do. Aolut and Tulao, the Stone Twins. Alike in some ways, but different in so many others. Aolut, the Comet Twin, is graceful and elegant, where Tulao, the Ember twin, is direct and coarse. At first, the two are inseparable, but quickly they begin to wander apart from one another. As a token of thanks and a gesture of goodwill, Atir sends Aolut to serve as permanent emissary to the Thalaz'ir's court, and to serve him in whatever capacity he requires. Tulao is kept closer to hand- even as this newest Thunspeaker pursues a path of subtlety unfamiliar to the Scrim, it remains useful to have one who can apply a little blunt force.
• Plagues may ravage, Blight may spread, but certain influences are still not to be tolerated. The Thunspeaker makes an offer to the Deru- in exchange for preventing the ongoing co-operation between the foul cult that is the Congress of the Honeyed Child and the equally foul Dolod, Thun will send its armies South to dispatch the troublesome rebels around the region where the vile Sanctum is to be built. To help convince them of the rightness of Thun's cause, they write first to Nyct, living in exile in the lands of the Deru, and request that she explain the matter to the Deru, who, being wise, will surely listen.
  In the end, the word of Nyct is all that is needed, and the Deru politely decline the Thunspeaker's offer of assistance.

Spoiler: Bookkeeping

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Land Units: 7/21 [=>6/21]
Naval Units: 4/9 [=>3/9]
Tactical Doctrine: Endurance of the Earth (-10% friendly casualties and +2 leader loss)
Passive Treasure Income: 3
Treasure: 7/10 [=>6/10]
Embassies: [=>ARK], KOB, NTK, TAR, UZI
Technologies:

• Masonry
• Writing (Hraban Runes)
• Animal Husbandry
• Pottery
• Irrigation
• Sailing
• Arctic Survival (Active, 65.1)
• Campaign Grift (Inactive, need more alcohol)
• Eyes Above (Active, 61.3)
• Increased Defense Budget (Active, 18.2 and 18.3)
• Off-Track Betting
• Stage Plays (Active, 1.1)
• Uzii Battlesmithing (Active, 33.2)
• Mamut-Daezirn Isles translation
• Mamut-Sikar translation
• Mamut-Tarandi translation

Spoiler: Keeper of Fables Techs

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• Advanced Masonry
• Bronze (Active, 24.2)
• Celestial Navigation
• Coinage (Partially active, gold or silver)
• Composite Bows (Active, 55.1)
• Crab-Claw Sails
• Eleftherian Democracy
• Mechanical Joints
• Mountaineer Clothing (Active, 53.1 and 53.C)
• Recurve Bows (Active, Composite Bows and 55.2)
• Steering Oars
• Thin-Blood Elixir
• Towers of Light (Active, 89.1)
• War Drums
• Wheel and Axle

Spoiler: Inactive

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• Advanced Poisoning (Medicinal or poisonous plants)
• Caravanserai (Stone)
• Comet Phylacteries (Comet shards)
• Equestrianism (Horses)
• Feathered Capes (Feathers)
• Peltae (Additional wood)
• Saddles (Cavalry tech and animals)
• Seekers (Nakhla Stone)
• Song of the Sea (Sea creatures)
• Song of the Wind (Flying beings)
• Treasure Ships (Have trade goods, need shipbuilding material)
• Viskari War Bows (Additional wood)
• Wolf Riders (Wolves)

Spoiler: Unit Breakdown

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• 1 Arkusan Homeguard
• 1 Watchers
• 1 Wanderers, Vagabonds & Followers
• 4 Scrim Elites
  Naval-
• 1 Arkusan Seafarers
• 1 Arali Conscripts
• 2 Scrim Sailors

Spoiler: Characters (WIP)

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Thunspeaker Atir: Ruler, round 19 to present. Self-styled as First-Born of Arrakh-Rah. Scrim, made from suevite.
Warspeaker Steady-Hand-Spills-Black-Blood-On-White-Snow, Champion of Light, Dances-With-Bees: Hero, score 10. Introduced round 13. Watcher.
Holn: Translator for Steady-Hand. Introduced round 16. Scrim, made of basalt.
Warspeaker Arman: Hero, score 8. Introudced round 10 as a replacement for Ex-Sentinel Arcor. Human.
Tradespeaker Lejah: Economic advisor to the previous Thunspeaker. Failed to return after undertaking a mission for then-Thunspeaker Nithor in Targiz, current whereabouts unknown.
Deceased characters:
Thunspeaker Nithor: Ruler, round 9 to round 18. Now part of the foundation of the Fortress in Thun. Scrim, made from slate.
Thunspeaker Ulun: Ruler, round 1 to round 8. Now a statue on the throne in the Thunspeaker’s Palace. Scrim, made from marble.
Warspeaker Tior: Hero, introduced round 1, formalized as a hero in round 4, died in ignominy battling native defenders in round 12. Scrim, made from marble.

Spoiler: Trading Posts

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Region No.	Resource	TP1	TP2	TP3	City	Acquired?
1	Wine	SCR	Open	Open		Round 18
18	Emeralds	TAR	SCR	SCR		Round 4, Round 12
24	Tin	CRI	SCR	XX		Round 14
33	Copper	SCR	SCR	UZI	UZI	Round 14
40	Cheese	SCR	TAR	TAR		Round 13
50	Truffles	SCR	CRI	Open		Round 2
53	Furs and Hides	SCR	TAR	Open	SCR	Starting, Round 4
54	Barley	SCR	Open	XX		Round 2
55	Goats	SCR	SCR	XX		Round 14, Round 17
61	Falconers	TAR	CRI	SCR		Round 17
65	Timber	SCR	XX	XX		Round 7
66	Juhan Axemen	SCR	XX	XX		Round 7
67	Ember Stone	SCR	Open	Open	ARK	Round Eighteen
Intercontinental
Region No.	Resource	TP1	TP2	TP3	City	Acquired?
173	Silver	SCR	XX	XX		Round 16
299	Clay	Open	SCR	HYD		Round 15, DSP

Spoiler: Previous Rounds & Land Posts Reference

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Lands Thread
Round One
Round Two
Round Three
Round Four
Round Five
Round Six
Round Seven
Round Eight
Round Nine
Round Ten
Round Eleven
Round Twelve
Round Thirteen
Round Fourteen
Round Fifteen
Round Sixteen
Round Seventeen
Round Eighteen
Round Nineteen