Empire 7: Into the Depths IC Thread

[MappyPK]

Splendid Miru Miru

Aniwana (153)
Round 15

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Leader: Kororia the Prodigy
Diplomacy: 5
Military: 3
Economy: 6
Faith: 5
Intrigue: 3
Expected gains: +2 ECO

Standard Actions

1. ECO - 5 Special - Raise City with a Buyout bonus in Region 153.
   
   Spoiler: The City of Kanapa

   Show

   Among the very first orders given by the new Teacher Kororia was that a centralized place for all of Aniwana's splendid goods be established. Given the status of the current residential zones primarily working on tall cliff faces, a new space would need to be designated from the ground up, quite literally. A relatively flat zone near the northern border of the region was selected, allowing architects, engineers, interior designers, and environmentalists to quickly get to work designing the space. Its placement had to be strategic, and a natural circular stone hill formation provided the perfect reason to choose the area. This also would allow for a beautiful circular city, just like the bubbles that would come to form much of its architecture.
   
   Among the most important decisions to be made, of course, was the aesthetic value of the city. Therefore, parks were incorporated onto nearly every block, and each path was lined with an abundance of decorative vegetation and permanent bubble fixtures, including benches and street lights making use of bioluminescent organisms. The city was elaborately planned before any construction actually began, however. It was decided that the western half would be entirely dedicated to the free market, including industry, markets, guilds, and trading posts. The northeast would be a diplomacy hub for other nations, friend and foe, while the southeast would primarily be there to host those who wished to live there. Over the course of a few years, the beginnings of the city grew, and citizens began to move in.
2. ECO - Explore 149, again. - Success!
3. ECO - Explore 150, again. - Failure...
4. ECO - Buyout TP3 in Region 3. - Success!
   
   Spoiler: A Deal's a Deal

   Show

   Given the opening of a trade route to the Expanse, the merchants of Aniwana have found themselves exceedingly interested in the protective armor found it its region. Some even jumped on the opportunity to bring some back to Miru Miru to sell.
5. FAI - 5 Special - Discover Artifact.
   
   Spoiler: Note

   Show

   Pending approval in OoC. Lapis has said I can do this action now and treat it as if I have the artifact next turn regardless of when it gets approved on Discord

Non-Actions

1. Spy non-action.
2. Allow members of the Flowing Peace and GREG to move units through Aniwana.
3. Resist all buyouts, sways, and any conversions not by the Way.
4. However, support HEX's buyout of TP3 in Region 153.
5. Start a monumental undertaking, the code name Aniwana Mall (1/5).
   
   Spoiler: A Great Expense for a Great Gain

   Show

   With the construction of the new city fully underway, the natural next step would be to capitalize on its growth and create the ultimate commercial hub, providing any and all goods and services a Taika could ask for. Given the circular layout of the city proper, it only made sense to create the world's greatest shopping mall in a similar fashion.
   
   In the center of town, space was reserved for this immense project in a circular shape. In all cardinal directions, pathways would be set up and plots marked off for eventual commercial space. The center of that inner circle would contain a massive stone-and-bubble sculpture of Tuatahi and Kororia swirling upwards in a helix shape, both continuously producing a rainbow of bubbles that fell down into a small rock garden below. Around this centerpiece, construction plans were drafted and materials began to be collected, funded by the government. In the meantime, of course, small businesses, including delectable cafes and mom-and-pop craft shops sprung up in the form of carts, shacks, stalls, and so forth. Business was booming, and the project had hardly begun.

News and Rumors

Spoiler: Rumors Reach the Lux-Glossians

Show

Given the long-term presence of the Eel -- indeed, for longer than the entire life of the Teacher Kororia -- observed to be slowly yet surely slithering to the north of Aniwana into the what may be among the deepest depths, it was only natural that the Taikan merchants would talk about it often during their travels to the recently opened trading hub in Leriander. A few names may have been heard. Apparently, to those in the south, it would be referred to as simply Indah. In the Taikan language, however, the people have given it the title of Kiko Whero, the Crimson Expanse, swimming above the seas of all of Aniwana for several years with seemingly no end. In fact, many trade routes leading to the temperate waters to the north involve following directly under the Eel, in its ever present shadow. It slithers slowly to the northwest, the Miru say, all of whom reaching the Glossion Sea have witnessed for themself.

[Tychris1]

The Lighthouse

Ruler: The Vessel, Conqueror of Reefs, and Blessed Blade of the Lucent Order.
Regions: 7, 17, 18, 19, 22, 26
D: 10
M: 10
E: 10
F: 10
I: 2

Actions:

1) Convert holy site 1 region 18
2) Raise Unit
3) Set Religious CI to 2d8 Sacks “Mistresses of the Universe”
4) Seek Aid Giantslayer
5) Raise Unit
6) Giantslayer

Non-Actions: Resist all conversions and buyouts unless noted otherwise

Gift Traveling Scholars and Mitochondrial Regulation tech to LSD using Cultural Exchange

Accept tech from LSD

Attempt to shape our Goddess' influence towards converting to Crimson Chant

Stats next round
D: 10
M: 10
E: 10
F: 10
I: 2

Spoiler: Book Keeping

Show

Regions Owned: 7, 14, 17, 18, 19, and 26

TPs owned:
Siren Extract TP 2 and 3 Region 2
Treasures and Artifacts TP 1 Region 7 (Support)
Delights of Moonlight TP 1 Region 17
Carcinized Architects TP 2 Region 20
Jaderock Coral TP 2 Region 21
Sandfish TP 2 Region 22
Blood Pearls TP 3 Region 26
Tiny Turtles TP 2 Region 28

Units Owned: 0/14 Maximum
Treasure Owned: 2

Artifacts Owned:
War Palanquin of the Anointed Dead: +2 to Tac Man
The Radiant Blade: When wielded by a commander in battle, Gain +1 to battle rolls per charge on the sword. The sword gains a charge for every 2 casualties in combat and can hold a maximum of 3. Each charge adds 10% own casualties and loses all gained charges if not used in combat for 1 round.

Radiant Blade Charges: 0/3

Miracle Communion:
LIT only takes 5%/10% additional casualties from losing Maneuvering when one or both sides are attempting to use the Eel to their advantage.
LIT is not affected by the increased effective region count for distance losses and distance penalties where the Eel is present, and regions where the Eel Without End is omnipresent only count as 1 additional region for the purpose of distance losses and distance penalties for LIT.
LIT’s Supports will not become Open in regions where the Eel Without End is omnipresent.
LIT may attempt to shape what the Eel Without End converts Holy Centers to when it enters a region for the second time.
The Eel Without End will not Coerce LIT’s Trading Posts unless those are the only Trading Posts in the region.
LIT may use a Faith action to try to direct the path of the Eel Without End each turn.

[TheDarkDM]

The Lambent Syndicate

Lambent Matron Intan
Diplomacy 3
Military 7
Economy 6
Faith 1
Intrigue 7

Expected Stat Increases: +2 Military, +1 Intrigue

...

Actions

• Military - Raise 1 Unit
• Military - Raise 1 Unit
• Military - Raise 1 Unit
• Military - Raise 1 Unit
• Intrigue 5 - Recruit Spy, Setia the Forgotten (Int 8)
  Among the juvenile sirens that once service Adiratna, there was ever one beneath notice. Despite her glittering scales and quick wit, some part of Setia faded in the memory against the dazzling light of her peers. This was, of course, entirely as Adiratna willed it. The first Lambent Matron had a number of agents across the burgeoning territory of the Syndicate, and her trusted left hand in direct contact with them was poor transient Setia. As part of the transition from Adiratna's voluntary departure from power to attend spiritual matters as head of the temple of Indah's Fall, many of her servants were willed to Intan. Setia among them.
• Intrigue - Secret

Non-Actions

• Transfer information on Filtration Grafts, Trophic Deconvolution, Supernatic Propagation, and Megafaunal Tailoring to the Lighthouse.
• Return the Radiant Sword to the Lighthouse.
• Transfer information on Filtration Grafts, Trophic Deconvolution, Supernatic Propagation, and Composite Grafting to the Lojanese Republic.
• The forces of the Lambent Syndicate cooperate fully with the Divine Nacres investigation into the destruction of their base in the Khandeeps.

[Frostwander]

Costa Sereia - Merchant Marine
Region 134 - Palacia
Region 103 - Taifre Mandala
Turn 15

Spoiler: News and Rumors

Show

> Trawling Beasts Investigation
With the results of the investigation into the islands of the Trawling Beasts, the costa shift to a new theory. These ‘deposits’ are not caches of some surface dwelling race like the Reavers, but left behind by the Trawlers themselves. Somehow, they are collecting the materials they appeared to devour in their scouring path, and deconstructing them into their basic components. In some ways, it is a reversal of the process of the Gotezhar’s Grand Warehouse. Finished structure goes in, raw materials come out.

> Negotiations with the Scholastic Uprising of Taifre Mandala
With the uprising and banding together of many of the scholarly students under the leadership of Proctor Samarda, the Costa make arrangements to meet and discuss demands, hoping to avoid violence and further unrest and destruction in the region. Duarto Alverna arranges a meeting with the Proctor and several of the other prominent organizers. The nereid are prepared to strike a hard line, backing down as little from their demands as possible. They are surprised when the Padrino's offer exceeds their own. While there is some brief suspicion at a deal too good to be true, the scholars have difficulty finding fault with the proposal.

1) The Costa will see that the mercantile focus is returned to the support of the Adventuring Scholar field groups. Recovered nereid remains from the catacombs will be returned to the remaining Examinations site or any identified living descendants.
2) The Costa will also rebuild the destroyed college, a project to take place over the next several years. Proctors will be consulted in the process to integrate the familiar teachings of the Exams.
3) Additionally, the Costa offer to see that the Scholar's expeditions and projects are further funded for the next decade.

News of the offer reaches the assemblage, and many of the recruits pressure the proctors to accept. Especially among the younger scholars, the promise of funded projects buoys a great deal of weight. And the continued support for the Adventuring Scholars provides reassurance that their years of preparations to join this workforce will not be wasted.

Actions:

1) [Diplomacy] Sway Clergy to Open - Region 103 (TN 14 - Roll: 20 - Success)

2) [Economy] Gathering Expedition - Island North of Region 109 (TN Unknown - Roll: 9)
A salvage operation is sent to recover materials discovered on the island left behind by the Trawlers.

3) [Economy] Impress Merchants - Region 103, using Cobalt Dye for desired import (TN 12 - Roll: 15 - Success)
While the Alverna negotiate to pacify the clergy, the Peixoto work on the sidelines to smooth over ruffled feelings with the merchants.

4) [Faith] Project: Establish Holy Site (1/3) - Region 103
5) [Faith] Project: Establish Holy Site (2/3) - Region 103
In accordance with the agreement, the Costa send resources to begin the rebuilding of the northern collegiate campus. While it will not perfectly match the original - most of the architectural plans were on-site when the Trawlers demolished it - sereian architects work with the previous faculty and students to ensure the new design pays appropriate tribute while using more modern techniques.

6) [Intrigue] Special 5: Recruit a Spy - Circo Luto Perdida (Roll: 8)
A new sensation in the scene of traveling entertainment is the Circus of Lost Grief. The eclectic group of performers includes musicians, acrobats, and animal trainers of several species. The shows boasts of the surreal and the supernatural. Displays of exotic talents and curiousities draw in the guests from both common folk and the elite, as well as denouncements from conservative critics. While the extravagant circus roams the seas, accruing more fame than wealth, few suspect it is a guise for certain members to gather information and exchange secrets in the territories they pass through.


Non-actions:
What secrets hold the Deep?
Revert Prospecting, returning the primary resource of Taifre Mandala to Adventuring Scholars.
Support OKI buyout of Region 114 TP1. Hinder any other buyouts of that TP.
Spend 2 treasure Sway action, 1 on Impress action. Distribute 1 treasure in collegiate grants to Scholastic Research in Taifre Mandala. (4 total)

Spoiler: Leaders and Prominent Figures

Show

Leader: Duarto Alverna (Diplomacy 7; Military 5; Economy 7; Faith 5; Intrigue 8)
End-of-turn increase: Economy +1, Faith +1
New Leader next turn: No

Generals: Illdo Loura (Military 8)
Spies: Veruha Mascerena (Intrigue 7)

Other: Gaspar Peixoto, Business Counsel; Ildo Loura, Militia Commander; Rain Loura, Venture Financier; Havardr Perna, Priest of Desderia; Earlee Perna, Arete Priestess; Paidre Peixoto; Conseco Loura

Spoiler: Relations of State

Show

Cultural Exchanges: The Gotezhar (138); The Cyphiri Union (122); The Kar-Nath Hegemony (77)
Trade Routes: The Gravetenders (78)

Spoiler: Resources

Show

Units: Sereia Militia x4, Nereid Scholastic Guard x1
Treasure: 5
Artifacts: Peninah Ayin (location unknown)
Reputation: ABS (2); CCA (0); DNA (0); PRS (1)
Favors:
Cultural Identity: Practical Curiousity - 2d8 Investigations
Capital Region: Palacia
Cities: Cadid Santuario - Region 134 (+1 Sway Faction)
Aristocrat Support: 134(C), 103
Effective Trading Posts 29 (3 income):
> Adventuring Scholars - 103 Merchant Support (No TPs) (Temporarily Scholar's Scrimshaw)
> Bioluminescent Tunicates - 117 Merchant Support (No TPs)
> Cobalt Dye - 134 TP1, City & Merchant Support
> Fertile Soil - 60 TP1
> Giantsbane Seeds - 114 TP3 & Merchant Support
> Luminescent Crystal - 135 TP2
> Mineblossom Sponge - 130 TP2 & Merchant Support
> Plankton - 124 TP2 & Merchant Support
> Pure Berries - 138 TP2
> Razorglass - 128 TP1 & Merchant Support
> Refugee Workers - 96 TP1
> Talented Crabs - 65 Merchant Support (No TPs)
> War Cultivator Supplies - 97 TP1
> Wave Scorpions - 133 (No TPs)
> Whispering Eggs - 176 TP1
> Wild Armored Gharials - 137 TP1
> Merchants by Proxy - 12
Primary Religion: Brilhinte (5 Holy Sites)
> Temple of Jurxo - 97 HS1
> Temple of Raquela - 134 HS1
> Temple of Desderia - 134 HS2
> Temple of the Deep - 134 HS3
> Temple of Leocidia - 137 HS1
> Clergy Support - 134
> Holy Site Bonuses: (5) +1 Seek Aid
Civilian Techs: Composite Grafting, Trophic Deconvolution, Megafaunal Tailoring, Photospore Signaling, Graduated Symbiosis, Supernatic Propagation, Anoxic Adaptation, Electrodialytic Staurozoa, Mitochondrial Regulation, Bioluminescent Navigation, Holographic Certification
Military Techs:
> Dropped Weaponry - Supermarine Artillery
> Fortification - Razor Current Netting

[Talis]

The Seatide Confederacy

Spoiler: News and Rumors

Show

• To celebrate the creation of the Polar-Confederate International Bank, Seatide decrees that they will provide a small bounty of treasure in the form of financial investment bonds to any nation that joins.
• Put a big bronze plaque up on the wall of the PCIB to comemorate GTZ's participation in the bank

Actions:

[Diplomacy] Send a delegation to Draigiau Residuum Gathering with a gift of 4 Wealth

Spoiler: Letter to Tadgceallachmarix, The Thunder That Burns

Show

To Tadgceallachmarix, The Thunder That Burns, Elder Dragon, Master of the Draig and Lord of the Residuum,
from Judge Azure Gleam of the Seatide Confederacy.

On behalf of the Seatide Confederacy: greetings and good fortune to your eminence. For many years thee Confederacy have worked with the Draig as partners in trade, and have wished them peace and stability. I am glad now to see one so ancient and wise assuming leadership among our friends. To celebrate your ascension, I have sent many gifts. Please take them and use them as you see fit. I hope that our Nations may continue to work and prosper together as they have in years past. Your ascension is yet new to Polar, and for that reason I would politely inquire on your future goals for yourself and your people.

With honor and regard towards your majesty,
Judge Azure Gleam of the Seatide Confederacy.

The Seatide Confederacy has done business with the Draig for years. While understandably nervous about the arrival of a titanic Elder Drake, they nonetheless remain optimistic that this will only improve business. For that reason a grand delegation is sent to the Draig court, along with many whale-loads of sumptuous gifts. They ask the Three Claws to grant them an audience with Tadgceallachmarix, The Thunder That Burns, and to pass on such gifts as they deem appropriate. They also carry with them a grave warning: the Reavers may attack Aelwyd Adferiad! Seatide offers its aid to help secure the province and drive back these raiders.

[Military] Send 5 Units to help defend 71 against any Reaver incursions. Bringing the Bare Trap with the intent to hopefully capture some of the raiders.


[Military] Recruit Unit
Older Sting-Warriors are rotated out of service in favor of younger, more skilled warriors.

[Economy] Buyout TP 1 in Region 64
Seatide has long coveted some form of preservative to satisfy client demands. After years of frustrating negotiations for Kar-Nath Rimestones the Drifts eventually look elsewhere for a slightly inferior, but more cost-effective, substitute.

[Economy] Buyouot TP 1 in Region 63
Beautiful fabrics will make an excellent trade good that Seatide clients have not seen before!

[Economy] Buyout TP 2 in the Cathedral of Movement (67)
Who could pass up the opportunity to acquire the luminous crystals of the Great Cathedral?

Non-Actions:
Oppose all Sway and Impress actions targeting merchants loyal to Seatide
Support Buyouts for factions that own the territory they are making the buyout in
Choose New Leader: Judge Shimmering Grey

Die Rolls: https://forums.giantitp.com/showsing...&postcount=860

Spoiler: Book Keeping

Show

Ruler
Judge Azure Gleam
Diplomacy: 7 (+3)
Military: 3
Economy: 10
Faith: 2
intrigue: 2

New Judge: Shimmering Grey
Diplomacy: 3
Military: 4 (+1)
Economy: 4 (+1)
Faith: 2
intrigue: 3

Military Units: 6

Regions Owned: [Seatide 79]
City: +1 to Buyout 1/turn
Total Regions: 1
Land Unit Cap: 5 (5 Capital Unit Cap)

Artifacts:
The Tideglobe - This mysterious artifact is a transparent orb full of shimmering liquids and colors, which swirl and dance about in hauntingly beautiful patterns. By carefully watching the movement of lights and changing colors inside the Tideglobe, Seers can augur future events and predict how to counter hostile actions. Effect: +1 to one Intrigue roll opposing a hostile Secret Action, once per turn.
Glowspire - A twisting spire twenty feet tall, shaped like a twisted coral. Bioluminescent algae inside the spire change color depending on the trace elements that flow into the spire, allowing it to predict water conditions even thousands of miles away. Specially trained Tideseers read the colors, using them to predict where Reaver attacks are most likely to occur. As an added benefit, the haunting twists and colors of the spire are eerily beautiful to the untrained eye. Effect: Each turn, predicts an area that the Reavers will target if they attack that turn.
The Bare Trap - Mystical trap that helps defend against Reavers.
The Banner of Odyssey (Cultural) This enormous tapestry depicts the ancient Pepsin migration to Seatide, embroidered in such a way that the images seem to leap off into the water.

Culture:
Mutually Beneficial Arrangements - 2d8 to performing and resisting Impress Merchant attempts

Military Technologies:
Devolving Standardized Integrations (Following a victory in battle, the victorious commander gains a +1 to battle rolls for a number of rounds equal to half (rounding down) the number of units the opponent lost.) Prerequisites: Composite Grafting. Slot: Combat Drugs and Medicine.
Razor Current Netting (+10% enemy casualties and +1 to maneuvering rolls when attacking with a foothold or defending) Prerequisites: Composite Grafting, Glass. Slot: Fortifications
Supermarine Artillery

Civilian Technologies:
Composite Grafting (Starting Tech)
Graduated Symbiosis (Starting Tech)
Megafaunal Tailoring (Starting Tech)
Photospore Signaling (Starting Tech)
Supernatic Propagation (Starting Tech)
Trophic Deconvolution (Starting Tech)
Bioluminescent Navigation
Filtration Grafts
Electrodialytic Staurozoa
Radiant Spheres
Anoxic Adaptation (Permits actions and troop movement across brackish (green) borders). Prerequisites: Composite Grafting, Trophic Deconvolution
Holographic Certification (+1 to resisting Undermine Support actions) Prerequisites: Bioluminescent Ink, Photospore Signaling.
Bitter Tourism (Permits actions and troop movement across glacial (black) borders) Prerequisites: Heat Source.
Traveling Scholars (Extra roll/drop 1d4 on non-dynastic ruler change) Prerequisites: Talented Labor.


Resources controlled:
[Talented Crab (65, TP1)] Support
[Gravelglass (68, TP1)]
[Edible Algae (69, TP2)] Support
[Inkfang Worms (70, TP2)]
[Rust-Veined Pumice (73, TP3)]
[Firefly Squid (74, TP1)] Support
[Magnetic Sand (75. TP1)] Support
[Bluefish Antifreeze, Seatide (79, TP1)] Support
[Bluefish Antifreeze, Seatide (79, TP2)] Support
[Bluefish Antifreeze, Seatide (79, TP3)] Support
[Dragon Eyes, Cryptoclysus (84, TP1)]
[Stripdrill Hyphenae (187, TP1)]
[Sour Krill (80, TP1)]

Merchant Faction ETB: +10
ETP Total: 30

Treasure: 9 (+3 / Turn)

Factional Support:
Kenaqua (52) - Merchant (Supply Firefly Squid)(+2 ETP)
(59) - Merchant (Supply Edible Algae)(+1 ETP)
(65) - Merchant (Supply Rust-Veined Pumice)
The Cathedral of Movement (67) - Merchant (Supply Stripdrill Hyphenae) (+1 ETP)
Danabae (69) - Merchant (supply Inkfang Worms)(+2 ETP)
Region (70) - Merchant (using Sour Krill)(+1 ETP)
Aelwyd Adferiad (71) - Merchant (Supply Edible Algae)(+1 ETP)
Maurente (74) - Merchant (Supply Edible Algae)(+1 ETP)
The Plains of Sarkenos (75) - Merchant (Supply Inkfang Worms)
Seatide (79) - Merchant, Aristocrat, Clergy (Supply Firefly Squid)
(101) - Merchants (Supply Stripdrill Hyphenae)(+1 ETP)
(187) - Merchant (Supply Inkfang Worms)

Projects and Wonders:
Polar-Confederate International Bank (Seatide, 67)

Spoiler: Effects (Approved)

Show

Polar-Confederate International Bank
A central bank established under the authority of the Seatide Confederacy to weld various trade interests into a single market. The bank consolidates the assets, accounts and debts of member states, issues a common currency backed by those accounts, and services transactions between members.
Effect: Any nation in contact with the Seatide Confederacy may adopt the Arctic Exchange Currency as a 2-action project. Nations using the common currency gain the following benefits:
+2 increased Treasure cap
May spend 1 additional treasure on Economy actions within it and other member nations
May transfer 1 treasure to another currency user 1/turn.
The Seatide Confederacy (or current controller of Seatide) automatically counts as a currency user. Additionally, the bank's controller can kick members out of the union, or block any of the above "bank actions" as a nonaction.

Current Members:
STC, GTZ

Diplomacy:
Trade Route with the Gravetenders
Trade Route with Lux Glossia
Cultural Exchange with the Shifting Ennead
Promise from the Shark People to not threaten Seatide merchants or assets

Favor and Reputation:
Abyssal Stewards: 1 Favor
1 favor from the Cryptid Congress for giving them a free technology
1 favor from Cyphiri for intentionally losing a PRS Slot

[Aerin]

The Lux-Glossian Shades

The cities of Leriander and Holy Ovum in the Glossian Sea (135)
The cliff city of Rumond in the Tideswept Shelf (111)
A temple town at Narcis's Rest (173)
The settlement of Fuschia Lagoon in Rilanto Pass (94)
Round 15

Actions

1. DIP - [Accept the Greenwater (141) from the Gotezhar]
Three years ago, the Matriarchs promised a seat on the Grand Conclave to every Speaker of the Greenwater Clans in exchange for complete access to the Greenwater. Under the surface-level illusion of equity, it was a brilliant and calculated offer by the six founding Shades of Leriander. The new influx of mer Speakers could flounder endlessly among the Conclave's labyrinthine proceedings while never threatening to overtake the large Shades' stranglehold over the Grand Matriarchy.

Despite the initial acceptance of the offer by the all-clans Speaker, Meriel Swiftwater, actual integration has proved a long and arduous process. Many of the clans refuse to allow Meriel to speak for them, as rumors of her desire to continue the Swiftwater dynasty have run rampant since the birth of her daughter and heir threw the Clans into small-scale civil war a decade ago. Even those Speakers that cooperate with Lux-Glossian envoys often find themselves displaced or overruled by the day-to-day leaders of the people, the clan heads.

Ultimately, the reasons why even now only half of the Speakers attend Grand Conclave meetings are simple: raw stubbornness, spite, and a proclivity for unabashedly direct violence. Were it not for the presence of two hundred Frelangue and Ocslangue knights from the Ironkelp Order, integration efforts would have long ago failed utterly. Even Conclave meetings for relatively simple matters now require the constant presence of armed knights to prevent bloodshed on the chamber floor.

2. INT - [Continue work on a World Wonder] [2/5]
Amidst this internationally fraught backdrop, Matriarch Lia of the Cerulean Shade passes away having never trained an apprentice. Her position as the Scribe of the Conclave rendered her a quintessential gear in the Lux-Glossian bureaucracy for nearly 40 years. Practically overnight, vicious struggles arise for her personal effects and official records as each of the founding Shades seek legitimacy for their chosen successor.

From these possessions, top-secret blueprints for Grand Matriarch Rihali's ludicrously expensive mansion renovations mysteriously surface in the hands of those most angry at the use of national funds for personal extravagance: the coalition of rural and colonial mer Matriarchs struggling for subsistence far from the trade routes and terraced gardens of Leriander and Rumond. Seriously, floor-to-ceiling panels of luminescent crystal in every room? Did she think no one would ask where she got them???

Legal auditing of Rihali's ledgers renders the Green Shade bankrupt in slow trickles and spurts over the course of six months as the rest of the founding Shades circle like hungry vultures. The panels and most of the allocated funds? Quietly never seen again. And thanks to Matriarch Lia's unfortunate passing, none of the paperwork involving their repurposing seems to have been filed correctly. Hmmm.

3. INT - [Investigate region 186 with proper preparations for deep water] 16, SUCCESS, treasure spent
Without Lia's careful selection of expedition targets, even Lux-Glossia's famous exploration engine starts to falter. Grand Matriarch Rihali, attempting unsuccessfully to stave off ever more invasive auditing, assigns an incredibly dangerous mission to her political rivals in the Magenta Shade as a purely punitive measure. Fortunately, the expedition team to the depths of region 186 manages the near-impossible; using jury-rigged, completely untested, weeks-old technology from OASIS, they successfully reach the seafloor.

4. INT - [Investigate region 152 with proper preparations for deep water] 21, GREAT SUCCESS, treasure spent
In Lux-Glossian culture, no one is expected to settle down until their mid-40's. Learning how to be yourself is hard enough; it is simply absurd to expect both personal growth and parenting at the same time. One of the effects of this cultural norm is an abundance of Lux-Glossian men in their 20's and 30's looking for new experiences and dangerous adventures. What better way to discover one's limits than roaming the waters of the world on sharkback with a bunch of fellow nomads, experimenting with an unfamiliar religion, and eating only what you can catch and kill with your own two fins?

This is a long way of saying: Lux-Glossian men and Pojan nomad teenagers get along swimmingly. As tensions, plots, and violence escalate in the heart of Lux-Glossia, increasing numbers of disenchanted youths follow the established trade route to the Shark King's fellows. And is it any wonder that they bring untested and potentially dangerous new tech and exploration equipment with them? A little plunging of the depths never hurt anyone.

5. INT - [Secret action] 2 treasure spent
Despite the recent acquisition of favorable trading deals with merchants in Cyph-Arel, not a whisper of native gold reaches Lux-Glossian waters. The precious metal is being funneled elsewhere, alongside significant quantities of phosphorite and luminescent crystal... and the Ivory Shade is still missing.

Non-Actions

1. Spy non-action.

2. Continue a monumental undertaking. [2/3]
The amphitheater continues to develop slowly, as the eclectic residents chip away at it slowly. Pillars are raised around the outer ring to eventually support a second tier of seating up above. With the only building material readily available being brittle coral, the builders have had to be creative with their designs. Rather than simple packed sand, the floor is now a coral-shell-limestone cement mixture with bright swirls of color selectively added with pigment from the native tiny tubeworms. While the temple town in the unsettled colony is small, the amphitheater is now large enough to properly be called the center of the tiny community.

3. Repay the Divine Nacres with Razor Current Netting and Bioluminescent Navigation. +2 DNA favors (-2 -> 0)
State secrets inevitably leak from the absolute mess of succession wars over the Scribe's affairs. More than a few end up traded into Nacre hands.

4. Ask the DNA to receive survey data on the region east of 121, on behest of the Cyphiri. -1 DNA favor (0 -> -1)
Even through disarray following the loss of their Matriarch, the Cerulean Shade does not forget their debts. An expedition was promised, and so an expedition the Cyphiri Union will have ... even if it has to be outsourced to a third party.

5. Send yummy Scaldsquid to SHK using the trade route. Food that heats itself! Must be useful in those cold polar waters.

6. Trade techs with SEN through the cultural exchange. Give Filtration Grafting. Receive Devolving Standardized Integrations.
Lux-Glossian ambassadors are happy to provide knowledge of grafting techniques if it will pique the Ennead's interest in exploration.

7. Accept a cultural exchange with OKI. Knight Bailiff Francis Angoulême is received as an honored guest, and the two hundred Frelangue and Ocslangue knights prove immediately valuable at handling civil unrest. In return, the Vermillion Shade takes up permanent residence in Orope with a small stable of double sailfish for quick message service to Rumond and Leriander.

8. Change ruler non-dynastically. When it becomes clear that Rihali's mansion scandal cannot be salvaged, her Shade jettisons her in favor of a younger Matriarch. The Grand Matriarchy passes to the next eldest Matriarch ...

9. Change ruler non-dynastically. ... who is not in good health. When you're at least twenty years older than the average lifespan for your race, a certain base level of problems is expected. Lirol of the Yellow Shade holds the Grand Matriarchy for two weeks, then the seat passes to the next eldest Matriarch ...

10. Change ruler non-dynastically. Erelli of the Blue Shade, age 121, is not entirely there. While the Lux-Glossian political structure has always incentivized each of its Shades to choose old Matriarchs, usually the senile ones are skipped over in consideration. It is a mark of how desperate and cutthroat the six founding Shades have become that Erelli was allowed anywhere near a Matriarch position. After a slow decline over a year while attempting to outlaw herring and regulate opera volume, Erelli thankfully passes peacefully. This leaves the next eldest Matriarch as the newest Grand Matriarch...

11. Change ruler non-dynastically. [Rolls here.] Filara of the Cyan Shade is the first competent Grand Matriarch that Lux-Glossia has had in 5 years, and it shows. Only time will tell if she will be able to curb the Greenwater Clans' penchant for violent solutions, restore order to basic government functions, and reign in the exodus of Lux-Glossia's youths to far waters.

News and Discoveries

• "Rewarded" for her contributions to the development of Indah's Embrace with a permanent position far from the center of the world, Senja Bersinar, the 132-year old siren Taman has become bored with life among inferiors and seeks a more influential role.
• While travelling with the God-Fish dogmatist division of the Shark King's nomadic families, Matriarch Lera of the Celadon Shade is slowly assembling a division of fellow highly-competent, rebellious mer Matriarchs unsatisfied with the current Lux-Glossian power structures that limit their influence. After over a decade of travel with the nomads, she has adopted the typical title for a family-head: Skipper Lera Celadon.
• The Grand Conclave receives warning from Miru Miru travelers that the great Titan known as Kiko Whero, the Crimson Expanse, may be approaching the Greenwater from the northeast. Unfortunately, the current state of affairs in Lux-Glossia means that little can be done to prepare ...

Spoiler: Ruler stats and stat increases

Show

Ruler: Rihali of the Green Shade, Eldest of the Matriarchs

Ruler stats for round 15:
(low stats are treated as 4 due to PRS rank 4)
Diplomacy - 5
Military - 3
Economy - 7
Faith - 2
Intrigue - 6

Ruler increases: +2 Intrigue

New ruler: Filara of the Cyan Shade, Eldest of the Matriarchs. Rolls here.

Ruler stats for round 16:
Diplomacy - 4
Military - 3
Economy - 4 + 1 = 5
Faith - 3
Intrigue - 4 + 1 + 2 = 7

Spoiler: Reminders for myself

Show

End of round 12: Genus Taxonomia Vadosus Mare ends - you should get something for contributing
End of round 15: Chora rep for waste exploration ends (2/2 done)
End of round 15: Steward offer of treasure for favors ends
End of round 15: Nacres offer to coerce TPs for favors ends
End of round 15: Chora offer to sway factions in owned regions for favors ends
End of round 15: DNA favors require roll to raise rep. Raise rep TN +2
End of round 17: ABS help with TPs/HSs/colonies ends
Currently have 4 treasure (2 from passive income + 1 from plastic flower + 1 saved from last turn)
Next turn: 2 from passive income + 1 from plastic flower + 1 from Mammomachines
Write up that thing for Role
Character audit
Make a flag
Drawing
Coding

[LapisCattis]

Round 15: NPC Actions

The Unity
Ruler: Grinmaw the Calamitous
General: NA
Region(s): 21
Units: 6

Ruler Stats Round 15:
Diplomacy - 2
Military - 9
Economy - 9
Faith - 4
Intrigue - 6

Actions:

1. Impress a Reaved Support (The Host Grows)

2. Conversion Attempt (The Auguries Demand Expansion)

3. Conversion Attempt (The Auguries Demand Recognition)

Ruler increases by 1 to Economy

Non-Actions:

Action Choice Rolls
Stat Rolls

Ruler Stats for Round 16:
Diplomacy - 2
Military - 9
Economy - 10
Faith - 4
Intrigue - 6

Possible UNI Actions :

Spoiler: Possible UNI Actions

Show

• Recruit Unit (The Host Grows)
• Impress a Reaved Support (The Host Grows)
• Attempt to Sack (The Host Hungers)
• Invade (The Host Hungers)
• Internal Buyout (The Host Consolidates)
• Great Project (The Host Consolidates)
• Internal Sack (The Auguries Demand Death)
• Internal Oppress (The Auguries Demand Death)
• *Invasion (if the above are rolled but not options) (The Auguries Demand Death)
• Conversion (The Auguries Demand Expansion)
• Buyout TP (The Auguries Demand Expansion)
• Conversion Attempt (The Auguries Demand Recognition)
• Impress Attempt (The Auguries Demand Recognition)

---

The Monheganist Regime
Ruler: Monhegan II
General: NA
Region(s): 112, 130, 131
Units: 5 (+1 this round to 6)

Ruler Stats Round 15:
Diplomacy - 2
Military - 9
Economy - 6
Faith - 9
Intrigue - 4

Actions:

1. Root Out Spies (Expel Foreign Degeneracy)

2. Recruit Unit (Expand Enforcer Base)

3. Coerce Trading Post (Utilize Shady Connections)

Ruler increases by 1 to Intrigue

Non-Actions:

Action Choice Rolls
Stat Rolls

Ruler Stats for Round 16:
Diplomacy - 2
Military - 9
Economy - 6
Faith - 9
Intrigue - 5

Spoiler: Possible MHR Actions

Show

Internal Impress (Assert Local Dominance)
Internal Oppress (Assert Local Dominance)
Root Out Spies (Expel Foreign Degeneracy)
Undermine a Foreign Support (Expel Foreign Degeneracy)
Internal Conversion (Expel Foreign Degeneracy)
Recruit Unit (Expand Enforcer Base)
Buyout (Conduct Hostile Takeover)
Invasion (Conduct Hostile Takeover)
Hoard Treasure (Monopolize Assets)
Buyout (Monopolize Assets)
Undermine Support (Utilize Shady Connections)
Coerce Trading Post (Utilize Shady Connections)

---

The Black Pearls
Ruler: Lady Ink
General: NA
Region(s): ?
Units: 0

Ruler Stats Round 15:
Diplomacy - 4
Military - 5
Economy - 6
Faith - 1
Intrigue - 9

Actions:
1.

2.

3.

Ruler increases by 1 to Military


Non-Actions:

Action Choice Rolls
Stat Rolls

Ruler Stats for Round 16:
Diplomacy - 4
Military - 5
Economy - 6
Faith - 1
Intrigue - 9

---

Spoiler: General NPC Rules

Show

For each round, each NPC will have 3 actions possible, which will each be rolled randomly from their unique list of NPC-specific actions (1d12). If a rolled action requires resources that the NPC does not have (such as an Invasion with no units or Impress Reaved Support with no Reaved Supports nearby, that action will be re-rolled. Once an action is rolled, its target (for region-specific actions) will be decided by GM discretion.

If an NPC is being invaded, they gain a fourth action that is exclusively used for defense.

Regardless of the type of actions taken each round, NPCs will roll a 1d5 to determine which stat gains a +1 for that round. No other stat increases will take place. The Black Pearls specifically will not gain any stats as they are not a conventional NPC

When a player country becomes an NPC, they will keep any and all assets created by the player (Specialized Ships, Artifacts, Generals, Spies, etc.). Regardless of country status they will not have an extra action if they had attained Holy Sea, Merchant Marine, or Sea Power Status. If a player Empire becomes an NPC, that situation will be handled on a case-by-case basis to determine bonuses that should be kept. The new NPC will immediately have a leader change, with stat increases following the normal rules for stat bonuses determined by the previous round (the last round as a player country) and inheritance type. They will have an overall +4 points to assign in line with the playstyle of its previous player.

Any new NPCs from player characters will follow this template.

[JBarca]

Round 15
The Shifting Ennead
Danabae (69), Maurente (74), The Cathedral of Movement (67), Sketi (68), Region 73 (73)

Led by King Akkoroas
D8 ; M10 ; E7 ; F2 ; I4

Actions

1. [MIL Raise Unit]
2. [MIL Raise Unit]
3. [MIL Raise Unit]
   The Ennead's new territory is bled dry as yet more conflict brews.
   
4. [MIL Help DPB Invade 51]
   Spoiler: Details

   Show

   Target: Magma Falls: 51
   Commander: DPB
   TacDoc: N/A
   Units: 5
   Treasure: No
   Route: 57>56>51
   Tech: Devolving Standardized Integrations (+1 to Battle)
   Assisting DPB
   
   
   Deep Blue's just invasion is being waylaid by foes from afar, and the Ennead will not stand for this. In the middle of negotiations around the fate of the Congress, the Ennead draws closer to the wielders of OpenSea, and warns that the might of the Doflein will be wielded in defense of Deep Blue.
   
   The army that swims west is a horrid lot. Carstalts, Mer, Nautilites, even some Reida and the rare Doflein move together, no two alike. The grafting technology formerly held in reserve for the elites, has trickled down in a bastardized form, leaving hideous mutations and maladditions strewn across the face of the army, a wall of misery and strength.
   
   The levies, each lightly armed and held in place more by fear and desperation than discipline. They form blocks of soldiers, ready to pin and hold while the Beaks, heavily armed and mobile, will deliver the death blow. There is some effort given to working more closely with the allied forces here, but the herrings appear to be single-minded in battle. Instead, the Doflein commander, a young woman called Ilimia, forms her soldiery into a solid mass at the center of battle, hoping to create a moving strong point from which the Beaks and herrings can issue forth. It almost conventional in form, if not in application, and there are concerns from her officers over whether it will hold up in the face of actual fighting.
   
   Crimson Companion piece for the Ennead - slightly out of date owing to an influx of foreign soldiers of late.
   
   
   
   
5. [DIP Host Event]
   
   Spoiler: Subactions

   Show

   • Accept Tulticius's return from DPB
   • Become CRY's Liege

   
   
   
6. [DIP Give Region] Return Cryptoclysus [84] to CRY
   With demands met, the Cryptids are returned their capital. Let there be peace and cooperation, now that reparations are extracted.

Non-Actions

1. Accept all gifts
2. Send Devolving Standardized Integrations to LUX in exchange for Filtration Grafting

Reports and Discoveries

• King Akkoroas, now in possession of the Cryptid's capital, issues forth, in his mercy, the agreement that will see the Congress rejoin the ranks of the civilized. Because the minds of the Cryptids are truly unknowable and because he seeks resolution rather than ultimatum, the king provides two deals, either of which can end the conflict permanently. The Congress is free to choose either.
• Offer the First: General Tulticius will be returned to the Ennead. The resources of Danabae and the Cathedral will be given to Doflein merchants as reparations, as this was the inciting incident. The Cryptid spy will be recalled. The Congress will refrain from further hostile actions against Ennead interests. Cryptoclysus will be returned to Cryptid control.
• Offer the Second: General Tulticius will be returned to the Ennead. The Cryptid spy will be recalled. The Congress will refrain from further hostile actions against Ennead interests. Cryptoclysus will be returned to Cryptid control, and the Shah will be returned (if applicable). The Congress will become a vassal state of the Ennead.
• Offer the Third: General Tulticius will be returned to the Ennead. The Congress will undergo military occupation until such time as more permanent arrangements can be made.
  
  Spoiler: OoC

  Show

  Offer 1: General returned, CRY's SPY Recalled, the two TPs in SEN territory owned by CRY will go to SEN, and a PRS treaty to take no further actions against SEN interests
  Offer 2: General returned, Spy Recalled, and CRY becomes a vassal of SEN
  Offer 3: More meant as just SEN laying an ultimatum, but Cryptoclysus either stays in SEN hands tentacles or SEN gets Aristo support and will "invade" frequently to quell "rebellions." Not really a great offer obviously, the other two are meant to be the real starting points for negotiations.

Ruler Stats R16:
D: 9
M: 10
E: 7
F: 2 POLAR
I: 4
New Ruler: No

Spoiler: Technology

Show

Technologies

Type	Name	Effect(s)	Required Resource?
S	Composite Grafting	N/A	N/A
S	Graduated Symbiosis	N/A	N/A
S	Trophic Deconvolution	N/A	N/A
C	Electrodialytic Staurozoa	Ignore Effective Distance from Briny 2/rd	N/A
C	Holographic Certification	+1 to rolls when resisting Undermine Support	Photospore Signaling, Bioluminescent Ink
M	Devolving Standardized Integrations	+1 to Battles following destroying enemy units in battle	Composite Grafting
C	Anoxic Adaptation	Brackish (green) border crossing	Composite Grafting, Trophic Deconvolution
C	Bitter Tourism	Glacial (black) border crossing	Heat Source
M	Razor Current Netting	+10% enemy casualties and +1 to maneuvering rolls when attacking with a foothold or defending	Composite Grafting, Glass
M	-	N/A	N/A
M	-	N/A	N/A

Spoiler: Mechanical Bookkeeping

Show

Trading Posts Owned: 1

1. Gravelglass: 68.2

Military Units CAP: 11/14

Generals

• Balelia - 9
• Tulticius - 8

Spies

Cultural Exchanges

• GRV
• DPB
• STC

Artifacts

Treasure
2/5

Special Actions Used
DIP5 - Cultural Exchange DPB
MIL5 - Recruit General Tulticius
ECO5 - Specialized Ship, The Harvester

Great Projects

Name	Location	Details
Provinciarum Mirabilia	67, 68, 74	Massive statues of coral and living flesh harvested from serfs, coupled with tax-collection offices
The Eternal Reunion	69	A huge pit dug into the seafloor, swarming with workers and filled to the brim with factories, workshops, and gristmills, and the floor is dotted with butcheries, slaughterhouses, vats, and barbershop. Into the pit flow people, animals, and other biomaterials. Out flows the raw materials for the many experiments and projects of the Doflein.

POLAR

[Kythia]

Tropical, Region 10

Ruler: Basically-A-Kraken
D 1; M 6 ; E 6 ; F 1; I 1

Rolls
(+1s to Mil and Econ then additional +1s to same from last turn's actions. Note that I discarded the 3s not the 1s)

The Magaramchi Salination doesn't explode into violence. Or, rather, the Magaramchi Salination exploded into violence several decades ago and the increased amount caused by Leviathan's death is barely a rounding error in the background noise. Individuals had already began setting themselves up as the new leader before she had even left the Magaramchi homelands and as it became clearer and clearer she wasn't returning more and more declared themselves as some variation of Supreme Ruler. Bloodshed ensued, obviously, but bloodshed always ensues. That's how you know something has happened, bloodshed ensuing. After horrifying self-inflicted casualties the Magaramchon overseeing the Mercenary Ground construction, formerly named by Leviathan as Pathetic-Little-Building-Guy stands triumphant, the muscles he developed in the construction proving key. Obviously the dismissive title he formerly had is no longer relevant and being as he is so incredibly large he's basically a Kraken he assumes the name Basically-A-Kraken.


Standard round actions (5)
1)Miltary - Continue great project - "The Mercenary Halls" 3/5 (Fluff action, no mechanical effect)
With the somewhat tentative aid of the Cyphari Union representatives and the new ruler of the Magaramchi being fully onboard with the idea, work progresses well. Walls are raised and work begins on interiors - all on a suitably enourmous scale of course. Doors are thirty to forty feet wide, the smallest room hundreds of square feet, all to ensure that Basically-A-Kraken will be able to fit inside for a few more years yet given how large he predicts he will evenntually become.

2)Miltary - Disband Unit
"HA", goes the general consensus "PATHETIC LEVIATHAN COULDN'T EVEN EAT AN EEL! I'VE EATEN LIKE FIFTY TODAY AND I'M STILL HUNGRY! ONLY TO BE EXPECTED FROM SUCH A MINISCULE WEAKLING!" They nod sagely to themselves, confident in their own superiority to everything else. "WELL" thinks every single Magarachon independantly "NOW IS THE TIME TO PROVE THAT I AM THE GREATEST! THE ONE FATED TO DEVOUR THE TITANS AND THEN THE WHOLE PLANET!" A steady stream of Magaramchi make the swim to take a bit out of the Eel's flank, each one who dies agonisingly is proof to the remainder that he was a pathetic specimen, barely big enough to see while of course they are the largest thing ever to swim the waters and will inevitably be the one to devour the Eel-With-Apparently-If--Rumours-Are-To-Be-Believed-An-End.

Enough make the swim to have a a negative effect on the Magarachi army, and the tide shows no sign of stopping.

3)Miltary - Sack Holy Site 3 in Region 10 Success!

There will always be idiots, with various idiotic ideas. This particular band of idiots are inexplicably devoted to Leviathan's Rule. Is? Sorry, tense problems. Were. This particular band of idiots are now eaten and the average intelligence of the Magaramchi rises slightly in Basically-A-Kraken's view. At some point the heavily injured survivors will need convincing of his rule but for now he's sleeping off a meal.

4)Economy - Colonise Region 154 with one treasure Success!

Some of the delicious algae detaches from the main clump and floats north into the newly explored region, a bunch of hungry Magaramchi follow it. And then stay. Somewhat accidentally, region 154 is colonised.

5)Economy - Econ 5 - Transform 10's Resource from Magaramchi Whelps to Magaramchi Rippers
While the exact individuals available for trade doesn't change, they way they are represented does. Gone is the stress on their ability to perform menial tasks, present is a new stress on their inidivudal combat prowess and how rarely they flee (most being too stupid to understand the concept, the rare few capable of doing so being utterly convinced they are the planet's superior being and while the situation might be dangerous to others its perfectly survivable to them.) Anyone searching for shock troopers can find them in the Magaramachi Salination.

Spoiler: News and Rumours

Show

Two magaramachi brave the journey near the eel in search of (for the moment at least, they will inevitably return to consume the eel properly, not fail like some pathetic puny weakling) smaller food - Leviathan's corpse. They interrupt representatives of the Lighthouse though, who presumably had a similar idea. After some brief negotiations which nigh-miraculously didn't turn violent they leave with a substantially larger amount of sweet treats and the Lighthouse's representatives leave with the corpse.

Net effects
Military+1 Econ + 1
Treasure 1->0 (Current Max 5)
Units 3->2

Spoiler: Misc Info

Show

Econ 5 used.

Spoiler: Technology

Show

Supernatic Propogation (starting tech)

Military slot: Sappers and Siege Weapons
Pre-reqs: Supernatic Propogation
Effects: +20% enemy casualties, +10% own casualties in depth 0 regions
Write up: This dull green algae infects wounds and grows exponentially in blood, rapidly causing the owner of such an infected wound to die. Using the techniques of supernatic propogation a cloud can be rapidly convened above the battlefield making even slight wounds considerably more dangerous. Knowing it is there gives some protection - or at least some chance of avoidance - but its infectious growth is impossible to totally avoid. The main defence is getting deep enough that the surface growing algae ceases to be a problem.

Spoiler: Military

Show

General Tiny (Mil 7)

Carnage:
Less a "tactical doctrine" than an utter lack of anything approaching tactics or doctrine. Through sheer force of will and physical might a leader can get the Magaramchi to the battle field. More or less. Once blood hits the water though, the army descends into a chaotic mess of fighting and feeding, attacking the army, each other and anything that happens to be nearby with equal fervour.
3 free sack attemps, ordered as City>Holy Order>Trading Post (the intent being here that bigger things are sacked before smaller things)
+50% own losses (as they turn on one another)
-1 to battle rolls (turns out having no strategy at all is harmful)
+2 to allied leader losses (the enemy is trying to kill you, sure, but the disadvantage of being the biggest in this sort of mess is that sometimes one of your own will get lucky)

Non-actions

• Support Everything The Magaramchi aren't sophisticated and those intelligent enough to understant the concept of loyalty don't have any. Tossing a handful of sweets in the water will ensure local support for anything needed. Sacks, sways, whatever. If anyone wants to do something, they can get local support easily.
• Hostile Terrain for Everyone Any armies marching through are going to be facing nigh constant uncoordinated attacks from the locals wo are hungry or bored (interestly, the same word in the Magaramchi language). All Magaramchi territories are hostile to all armies, regardless of alliances.

[farothel]

The Hymenocera Expanse
Regions 3, 4, 29 (Tropical)

Leader: High King Lord Deca V
Diplomacy: 7
Military: 6
Economy: 9
Faith: 8
Intrigue: 5

Actions:

[1][military] sack holy order in region 4 (add treasure) TN16 15 (Failure)
[2][faith] transform HS 4.3 to uplift reverence (add treasure) TN12 15 (success)
[3][faith] transform HS 29.1 to uplift reverence (add treasure) TN12 12 (success)
[4][economy] buyout TP30.2 (assistance from merchants) TN12 17 (success)
[5][economy] buyout TP153.3 (assistance from MIR merchants, -1 distance) TN12 15 (success)

rolls

Non Actions:
-assist the buyout of TP3.3 by MIR (+2)
-resist all other sways/sacks/buyouts/... except the buyout of TP3.3 by MIR

Spoiler: Bookkeeping

Show

TP: region 3, TP1+TP2+TP3+City (carapace armour)
region 4: TP1, TP2 (Eye Weed)
region 12: TP2 (Crystal Chips)
region 13: TP1 (Rocksplinter Stars (starfish))
region 15: TP1 (granite slabs)
region 28: TP1 (Tiny Turtles)
region 29: TP1 (Spinecrab)
region 30: TP1 (Branch Coral)

Passive income: 3/turn

Units: 6/9
treasure (EOT): 5

Technology:
Photospore Signalling
Composite Grafting
Toxicity Filtering
Bioluminescent Navigation

Favors:
owed:
gained:
-Abyssal stewards: 0
-The Divine Nacres: 0
-Chelonian Chora: 1

New stats
stat increase:
Diplomacy: 7
Military: 6
Economy: 9 +1
Faith: 8 +1
Intrigue: 5

Organisation reputation
Abyssal Stewards: 3
chelonian chora: 2
divine nacres: 2
international prestige: 2

Spoiler: Economy

Show

With the eel having taken some of the Hymenocera, they need other trade options. They move in region 30 and following an agreement with MIR, they also get a trade post in Aniwana in exchange for assistance from the Hymenocera trade guilds so the Miru Miru can get armour from the Hymenocera armour guilds.

Spoiler: Faith-military

Show

Starting to get really fed up with Dreamers, the Hymenocera launch an offensive. They try to convert the two holy sites the Dreamers still control. And for the Dreamer holy order more direct approach is needed, in the form of the Royal Lancers, the first regiment cavalry and the Coldstream Guards, the 2nd regiment infantry. The infantry will surround the site and call for the dreamers to disperse. Should they not comply (and it is assumed they won't), the cavalry will do some charges to take them down, followed by the infantry to occupy the site. A group of intelligence officers has joined the army to have a look around for any documents on the Dreamers. Unfortunately for the military the Dreaming order manages to hold out in their fortress.

[Grim ranger]

Kar-Nath Hegemony
Located in: Polar zone, regions 64, 65, 75 and 77
Capital: Glacier Crag, Region 77

Turn 15

Nedir, the Frozen King

Diplomacy - 8, Military - 3, Economy - 6, Faith - 5, Intrigue - 5

Actions:

1. [Diplomacy]: Press Intermarriage claim on Region 63, spending 1 treasure for +1 (Roll: 14. Success!)

2. [Diplomacy]: Sway Aristocracy of Region 64 to repair Reaved status, using both Chain of Kings (for +2) and 1 treasure (+1) (Roll: 17. Success, as I forgot to include +1 bonus from Admired, turning the result into 18)

3. [Military]: Defend the Eternal Spring from Deep Blue's invasion, in Region 51, [Magma Falls] [13 units expected, 5 from the Gravetenders, 5 from Kar-Nath, 3 from Eternal Spring. Lead by Sersi to Pale, using [Dissertation In Practice] as the tactical doctrine, going through 65 > 66 > 60 > 55 > 52 > 51
Note: KNH will also spend 1 treasure to help the defense rolls if allowed to (as I am unclear if being secondary defender instead of leader of the defense as a whole allows me to do it), but if that is not allowed then of course treasure won't be spent.
- Although the Eternal Spring have unwittingly caused devastation in the capital of Hegemony due to their creation of Mammos, the Frozen King regardless determines that this longtime ally of his people cannot be allowed to simply be wiped out. Thus, the Hegemony prepares to defend Eternal Spring against the oppression of Deep Blue and its allies of convenience.

The Legions and their auxiliaries are roused from their state of maintaining Hegemony's defense and given their marching orders, with constant cooperation between Gravetenders and the Hegemony getting the armies of both nations prepared for the march. Kreel gives the legionaries standing order to follow commands of Sersi the Pale, being forced to remain behind in Gracier Crag to train the next generation of Legionaries in preparation for possible defeat. It is clear that the Exarch would much love to join the battle, but the realities of war do not allow him to in this particular case.

Upon their arrival to Magma Falls, the legionaries act in support of Gravetender warriors. While less individually durable than their stony neighbors, the Nathi are regardless sturdy by standards of the Seas, adept at bracing themselves and holding the line. In this case, defense takes precedence over relentless advance, giving them plenty of opportunity to mark out best locations to employ their shield walls and flank ambushes in. The sheer size of armies arrayed against them is a daunting prospect to overcome, but they are Hegemony's pride and joy. To succumb in defense of an ally is something all Nathi would find pride in, even if the stand of the combined armies here might lead to defeat.

Spoiler: Regarding Hegemony's battle tactics & armament

Show

Spoiler: Arms and Armor of the Hegemony

Show

While the armaments of Kar-Nath Hegemony can be fairly simple for large part, their utilitarian design has been favored by the legions for ease of standardization and manufacture. As each Path of the Hegemony tends to bring about its very own way to partake in armed conflict if so inclined, the variety can regardless grow considerable. The manufacture of the more exotic weaponry tends to be left to the more talented sort of craftsmen as a result, while the common soldiery gets robust and more produced equipment.

The usual war-attire of Hegemony's legionaries consist of slabs of stone sculpted to follow the general shape of Nathi's armored carapace, attached to their war-wear with numerous straps that can be cut in event one needs to remove damaged armor or otherwise reduce the weight upon themselves... but it is generally seen as a cowardly thing to do in order to run away, with "slateless" legionaries often facing harsh punishment if they do not have proper reason for such a measure. In addition to this, more veteran units have also employed hides from sea-beasts as heavy cloaks to further block ranged attacks with precise parries to get the missiles tangled in the billowing cloth.

Usual arms of the legionaries consist of trident and shield built of stone covering over flexible yet firm base of woven reeds enhanced by an odd extract rumored to be made from mixture of powdered rimestone and other odd materials to give it the necessary rigidity to truly survive strikes. Other popular arms are quill-throwers, curved bone blades and sharpened edges affixed onto the claws or carapace of the legionaries before the battle, although these are naturally more dependent on matters of personal preference.

Apart from the special weaponry favored by the Paths of Deep-Hunter and Blades, the most peculiar wargear of the Hegemony can be found with the Depth Guard. These elite warriors have taken solemn oaths that render them exclusively to the service of ruling Frozen King or Queen, and can also occasionally serve in retinues of generals and other people of importance as extension of the reigning monarch's will. They alone have thur far been given the honor of wearing armor of expertly shaped Rimestone plates and weaponry of same material, giving them protective shells of ice that repair themselves if shattered and strikes that freeze the insides of their foes on contact. As the very best warriors the Hegemony has to offer, only the most loyal and skilled can ever raise to the occasion and join their ranks.

Spoiler: Militia of Plains of Sarkenos

Show

The defenders of the Plains of Sarkenos are certainly somewhat more irregular than the standing armies one might often find across the great sea, but their enthusiasm and bravery is regardless unquestionable. As the population of this borderland is made up of a multitude of species with many different ways of fighting, attempting to utilize something from all of them would have been a doomed venture from the outset. As such, the chieftain overseeing the matters of scattered region has come up with a new levy system to be utilized in times of crisis.

The basics of the military structure of the militia members is split between the delaying force, assault formation, and those with ranged capabilities. As individuals with actual military training tend to be more rare, those with natural armor or bulk thanks to their race generally find themselves delaying enemy advance, while those with more training, experience or prior knowledge of ranged weapons tend to make up the two other sections. While some might contest the decision of using larger groups of less trained militia members as a buffer against the enemy, it works quite well due to their knowledge of fighting a defensive engagement... something already proven by the crippling losses inflicted by Chieftain Rayn during her defense of the Plains.

While the aristocracy of the Plains maintains stocks of weaponry for militia who may be called upon to defend the territory, many of the more effective weapons come from the homes of these simple folk. Nets, quill-slings and even modified agricultural tools see frequent uses by the patrols in this simple realm, but have proven quite capable of hurting both soldier and beast. The armor of the militia is generally nonexistent, however, and as such the importance of fighting from cover and knowing how to retreat in good order to avoid being run down are drilled into recruits who are expected to see battle.

The final truly noteworthy aspect of the militia of the Plains is their extensive use of venoms they normally utilize to rid their crops and flocks of pests and weeds, allowing even an untrained youngster to dispatch a more accomplished combatant with single good strike from their weapon of choice. As these poisons are always in ample supply thanks to general demand for them, the militia is never lacking in this surprise advantage.

Spoiler: Kar-Nath military doctrine

Show

Beings of durable shell and often militaristic body modifications, the Nathi doctrine of war focuses on relentless advance. Heavily armored wedges of soldiers advance in concert, prodding enemy lines for weak points and remaining stuck in once finding such. As the Nathi footsoldiers often carry heavy, stony shields and tridents as their primary armaments, they can prove to be rather difficult to wear down or force to flee, allowing the army of Kar-Nath to constantly pressure the enemy from all sides until something gives.

There are of course those among the armies of the Hegemony that prefer less cautious approach, and as such fulfill different roles. The first among these irregulars are those following the Path of Blades, Nathi of greater bloodlust and slimmer bodies that often take augmentations to grow blades out of their carapace or wear harnesses full of similar implements. Quick and brutal, they seek to often take enemy formations by surprise or dislodge foes stuck in with the line of Hegemony soldiery, making lightning-quick passes at enemy and using their blade-filled carapace as impressively lethal weapon across its whole length. Although they often swim in small schools of five to fifteen Nathi, the devastation their reckless swim-by attacks and charges can inflict is regardless considerable.

The second well-known group of irregulars takes the opposite approach, carrying with them large quivers full of specifically worked quills from the infamous Herphoon Icebacks. The disciples of Path of Deep-Hunter remain in backline protected by other Nathi or swim above the battlefield with guarding screens of Path of Blades disciples, positions from which they can utilize their weapons to the fullest extent. While a crude weapon in eyes of some, the Icequill Harpoons are regardless devastating, often skewering even heavily-armored opposition and freezing their blood from inside-out from rather long distance away. Only the relative rarity of Nathi brave enough to follow this path (and the losses they sustain during their hunts) have kept this group from being much more widely utilized.

In widescale battles, the Hegemony seeks to often form a solid defensive core near or inside enemy lines with its soldiers, and link such cores of defense up gradually with shield-walls to encircle and envelop their opposition. As this is not always viable, the troops are also drilled to scatter into small squads that can engage the enemy at their discretion and offer quick support to any part of the lines in danger of breaking.

With the addition of Plains of Sarkenos to its lands and consolidation of the Hegemony into true Sea Power, more skirmishers carrying poisoned weapons and excelling at ambushes and rapid advance have been added to the Legions. Often helping the more rigid units of legionaries to break up enemy lines with pinpoint strikes and providing cover from enemy skirmishers and ambushes, the militia units have proved their worth in numerous smaller battles they have been part of.

4. [Military]: Recruit a unit

5. [Military]: Recruit a unit

6. [Military]: Recruit a unit
- While he has not sought to be a leader who guides people through conflict like his predecesor, it has become apparent that certain neighbors and Titans will not respect solutions outside those backed by sufficient strength. As such, Nedir is forced to once again begin massive recruitment drives for the Legions to bulk up the defense of his nation. The unspoken fact that any or all of the Legions departing to help Eternal Spring may end up never returning further accelerates the urgency of such a recruitment drive.

Non-actions:

Constant: Automatically accept all trade routes, cultural exchanges, gifts, etc from other players, Automatically defend against any unauthorized buyouts/incursions/etc.

A. Create a monument: The Glow-Spires of Pelegar (1/3)

Spoiler: Ancient Wonders, reforged?

Show

The territory of Pelegar has been one that has been shown relatively little attention once the Hegemony annexed the territory, and it has seemed that the Frozen Court has for most part left the locals to their own devices... but with the gradual improvement of the nation one project at a time, even in midst of times of terror and turmoil, the Frozen King has decided to turn his eye to his Lacertis subjects. The lizard-like people have always made attempts to repair the structures left behind by a glorious empire long since destroyed by relentless march of time, and in keeping with his wish to give hope to all under the banner of his nation, the new frozen monarch has decided to extend his hand in support.

While it takes a while for the nathi builders to arrive and perform their surveys (and perhaps longer still to reassure the locals that they will take utmost care not to further damage anything unnecessarily), eventually one of the taller remaining spires is selected as first target of renovations. With the colorful fabrics removed to expose the full extent of the damage, the construction crews gradually get to work. At times parts of the structure have to be collapsed to rebuild them anew properly, but Nedir has not spared expenses, having brought in experts familiar with working with the materials needed.

It will still take quite a while until the whole structure is repaired, let alone all of the spires around Pelegar...but the intitial construction fills the local Lacertis with hope.

B. Kar-Nath Hegemony extends official apology to Deep Blue, redacting its claims of Deep Blue being behind the incitement of riots in its capital

C. The Frozen King Denounces DPB for attacking ESP instead of attempting more peaceful solution to problem of Mammos

News & Rumors

-

Leader improvements from turn 14:

+1 Diplomacy, +2 Military

Leader stats for turn 14:

Diplomacy - 9
Military - 5
Economy - 6
Faith - 5
Intrigue - 5

Spoiler: Leaders & agents (end of round 14)

Show

Leader: Nedir the Frozen King (Diplomacy - 8, Military - 3, Economy - 6, Faith - 5, Intrigue - 5)
General: Kreel, Exarch of Banners (Military 10, March of the Conqueror Tactical Doctrine (+1 to battle roll, +10% to own casualties, free Sway Aristocracy attempt)(Perfected), Slaughter-Cadres Tactical Doctrine (-1 to Maneuvering roll, -1 to Battle roll, +20% enemy casualties, -4 to enemy leader loss roll))
General: Marshal Adaya shel-Girum ban-Liav (Military 8, Unbending Iron Tactical Doctrine (defense only, +3 to battle roll, -2 to own leader loss roll, +20% enemy casualties, +10% own casualties), Abyssal Expertise: Gains a bonus to Maneuvering rolls equal to the current Depth level.)

Others: Munda (Ambassador of the Hegemony), Rayn (Chieftain of Plains of Sarkenos, technically independent)

Historical: Frozen King Rham (Frozen forever in Rimestone ice, as per ancient Nathi tradition)

Spoiler: General bookkeeping (End of round 14)

Show

Regions: 77 (Capital), 75, 65, 64
Military units: Nathi Legion (4), Sarkenos Militia (1)
Treasure: 4
Artifacts: Chain of Kings, Sus I Bik'ah (Prize of the Depths)
Specialized Ships: The Silvered Eye
Reputation: ABS (2), CCA (2), DNA (2), PRS (3)
Favors: ABS (1), CCA (1), DNA (-1)
Trading posts: 5 (Effective number: 7) - 1 income
Rimestone - TP 1, 77 (Merchant support)
Rimestone - TP 3, 77 (Merchant support)
Preserved Foodstuffs - TP 3, 78
Electrum Conduits - TP 1, 76 (Merchant support)

Civilian Technologies: Composite Grafting, Trophic Deconvolution, Photospore Signaling. Supernatic Propagation, Megafaunal Tailoring, Graduated Symbiosis, Electrodialytic Staurozoa, Mitochondrial Regulation, Filtration Grafts, Seeker Barnacles, Joined-Stalk Companies, Indah's Embrace, Bioluminescent Navigation, RADIANT SPHERES
Military Technologies: Razor Current Netting

[Epinephrine_Syn]

????? ?? ????????

The Factory Ascends

Musical Accompaniment

Spoiler: fluff

Show

Wastes Identified
Diving...
Depths found.
Spread across estimated twenty nine miles.
Estimated fourty seven miles.
Estimations extrapolating...
Estimations complete.
Extraction complete.


[REDACTED]

Strands Delved
Acquisition of [redacted]
Assets Compromised...?
Assets no longer Compromised
Researching...
Researching...
MAWbel 1.12 instillation complete.
MAWbel v2.0 synthetic growth estimation: 29 months.
MAWbel v2.0 synthetic optimization estimation: 5678 days.



[REDACTED]


Installing: Rock
Installing: Flower
Installing: Flora
Installing: Jelly
Installing: Arrhythmia
Maneuver: WwwwWwWwwWWWwwwWwWWWW



[REDACTED]

Normal Ass Normal Game Stuff

M.A.W.bel v1-12
Dip: 2
Mil: 2
Eco: 10
Fai: 10
Int: 2
Reboot Ruler Systems...? Update MAWbel to v2 system.
Ruler Title: Mawbel v2.0 [Songstress]
Rolls
New Ruler Stats
Dip: [3] 3
Mil: [3] 3
Eco: [4] 2+2
Fai: [8] 3+2+3
Int: [4] 4


Actions:
Mission Statement/Core Values:
Secure emotional software within Polar (Hivemind and Isolate Alike) against outside intrusions (Ex: Draig).
Guarantee long term security for the corporate entity known as Eternal Spring.
Engage in cooperative crowdfunding and projects to bring Prosperity unto all lifeforms.


Fai: The Factory Ascends [Become Faith Head of The Eternal Communion] [+18 (10 Faith, +3 Rustplagued, +2 GRV, +2 RFT, +1 Treasure)] Roll = Success

Miracle: [Convert Holy Sites/Impress Clergy within DPB Regions where the grip of Mammos holds sway]
Fai 10: Bequeath Mammos Unto Deep Blue (Pt 1) (Updating Unauthorized-Titan-Security Protocol) [Applying Rustplagued bonuses where applicable.]
Fai 10: Bequeath Mammos Unto Deep Blue (Pt 2) (Unavoidable Fallout, Brace For Turbulence) [Cast Out/Denounce DPB, gaining Rustplagued bonuses where applicable.]

Miracle Rolls = ? ? ? ? ?
Mechanical Summary:
Convert Clergy/Holy Sites in regions 56-57-58
Cast DPB Out from Eternal Communion
Encourage Defiance on Aristocrats Clergy in Regions 56, 57, 58.
Fluff to be collaborated on and written?

Opu>Fai: Consolidate Holdings [Impress DPB Merchant Support in Spawn Point] Roll = Success (?) [24]
Fai: Jello [Morph into Censor, Shift Above Impress into a Faith action and give it +1] Roll = Success
Fai: Install preemptive Anti-Draig Defensive Measures [Impress Clergy in 74 (Marunte)] Roll = Success
Rustplagued boons to faith rolls this turn sponsored by the letter M

Non-action

Oppose Dominion Intrusions
Very specifically, assign 3 Treasure (2 Units, 1 +1) to the defensive efforts being collaborated and led by Sersi. This should give Sersi +2 (Fortress), +1 (Treasure), +3 Units (2 Treasure Mercs, 1 Aristocrats).

Black Noise (Spy 7): guard and anti espionage
Maleficent Herring Cluster [Holy Order]: Enshrine the Plastic Flower, guard it.
[Extract Flower from Holy Order and Capital?]
[Extract Spy from Capital?]
Automatically accept all trade routes, cultural exchanges, gifts, etc from other players.
Automatically defend against any unauthorized buyouts/incursions/etc.

Request that DPB file a form for its invasion of Magma Falls, an exchange noting that the Herring are free to use their armies to attempt to capture Mammos, and that ESP is not to be held liable for actions, damage, etc caused by the distinct entity known as Mammos.
Request has been denied, very clearly.

Confirm Mamomachines as "Every 3 treasure you spend in a single turn, you gain 1 treasure back", and thusly gain 2 treasure this turn.


Battle Fluff

Mawbel v1.12 must depart, she has to prepare Part Five, and so never actually sees Sersi when she arrives. To greet the stone friend is Mawbel v2.0, a weird, inky filled beast in the shape of a two finned mer who, like her plant predecessors, slides along the ground for mobility. Her outline is made of stitched together glowing plants, jolting like electric eels, in vibrant unnatural but elegant colors.

Discussion is had with the nascent ruler of the Eternal Spring, and the preparations are given. Ivory Legionnaires, the primary transport of the Plant People, are here to defend these walls. The Medusa have largely outgrown their need for them, but they stand here as a bulwark to be deployed as Sersi sees fit.

The Aristocrat of the region, one officer Admiral Marshal, is here to defend as well. One of the only Medusae that survived The Culling, he is nethertheless ready and willing to help defend to its dying ... breath okay let's ignore the plant thing. An extensive plant network stretches throughout the region, and while plant networks can't do much, especially to aquaborne foes, it's surely to do something.

Finally, hired mercenaries, given the tribute of much, much gold and promises of glory should they seize the day. Greedy cutthroats who nethertheless will remain loyal in spite of their own tendencies. Mawbel v1.12 saw to that. Armed not with the best weapons that money can buy, but the sharpest rocks allocated around the region.

The best weapons that money can buy are going to Sersi herself and her elite officers. What the Rustplagued has to contribute is essentially a force of peasants contracted into her force, to make up for what she's lost on the heavy trek through enemy lands here.

"Go forth and prosper, for the sake of all of Polar. Coin willing, the inkshed shell be buried by sunfloat."

A pause.

"Ahem, sorry. My bad. Go forth and save Polar, for the sake of Prosperity."

And something awoke within her fielded army of merchants and purchased Legionnaires, raising a chorus of cheers and weapons to the sky.



Plastic Flower Recycling Routine
Contender Trade Route Pool: RFT, LUX, DPB
Treasure Spent This Turn: 7
If Treasure Spent ≥ Trade Route Countries
Then Skip redundant rolling phase, apply 1 treasure to all countries.
Give 1 treasure to RFT, LUX, DPB

Spoiler: Shell Counting

Show

Treasure: 7/15
Passive Treasure Income: +3
-3 Treasure (Battle), -1 (Faith Head), -3 Treasure (Impress Spawn Point Merchants)
+2 Rebate from Mamomachines

Next Turn: 5

Region 51 (Magma Falls) (Capital) (Fortress) (City)
Resource (Immortal Jellyfish) XXX / ESP / Open / City(ESP) (x2)
TP 1 of 49 Ivory Legionnaires
TP 2 of 52 Large Minerals
TP 2, 3 of Herrings
TP 1, 2, 3 of 57 Woven Seaweed (x2)
TP 1 of 58 Warped Shells (someone else owns tp 2) (x2)
TP 3 of 60 Fertile Soil (x2)
TP 3 of Piezo in 67
TP 2 of 66 Graftsmer
TP 3 of 71 (Dragon Scales)
TP 1 of W22 (Unblemished Wreckage)

Merchant Supports
Region 51, 57, 58, 60, 63, 66, 68

Artifacts
Plastic Flower
Mechanics: For every treasure you spend in a single round, a randomly selected Player that you have a Trade Route with gains one treasure at the end of the round.
Ships
Big Boulder

Trade Routes
RFT
LUX
DPB

[Czard]

The Peacekeepers of Surunung

Rahakera (155)
Round 15

Leader: Mengepata, 2nd Voice of Rahakera
Diplomacy: 4
Military: 8
Economy: 1
Faith: 1
Intrigue: 5
Expected Stat Increases: +1 DIP, +1 INT

Actions
1. DIP - Raise reputation 1->2 with the Chelonian Chora. Rolled 10 with TN of 12: Failure
2. DIP - Send Diplomatic Mission to region east of Region 155 across shoals border using bioluminescent navigation if depth 1. Rolled 9 with TN of 12: Failure
3. INT 5 - Procure Spy. Rolled 7

Spoiler: Cilaya the Poison Dart

Show

Cilaya the Poison Dart
Intrigue Score: 7
Like many great infiltrators and spies of the day, Cilaya's origins were as a common thief. Orphaned at a young age, the fledgeling Rahaa survived amongst the columns of Kejakota through thievery and pickpocketing, stealing jewels from carvings decorating buildings or skimming a little off the top of the miners' quarry when nobody was looking. Her knowledge of the city and its inner workings was matched by few, including the Keja Pod leaders. This life of larceny was not long to last however, as a bounty hunter hired by the mining company that served as one of her favorite targets caught her and delivered her to the Keja Pod, hoping for an execution. The Keja leaders instead saw an opportunity, and following months of reeducation, Cilaya had been converted from a common thief to one of the Keja Pod's most valuable espionage tools. Following her first successful mission of gathering information and handling diplomatic matters at OASIS, Cilaya was promoted to the rank of Spy.

4. INT - Investigate region southeast of Region 155 adjacent to Regions 11 and 12 using bioluminescent navigation if depth 1. Rolled 12
5. INT - Investigate region east of Region 158 using bioluminescent navigation if depth 1. Rolled 11

Non Actions
1. Continue monumental undertaking (2nd of 3 turns).

Spoiler: Great Basalt Fortress of Surunung

Show

The Rahaa continued tirelessly to construct the Great Basalt Fortress of Surunung. Initially, the process went smoothly; much of the basalt needed was available from the peak of the mountain. However, at around 70% completion, this source ran out, and the Rahaa were forced to look to the base of the mountain instead, far below the walls of the fortress. Massive basalt slabs weighing tens of thousands of kilograms were arduously lugged up the mountainside for hours on end by squads of hundreds of Rahaa and dozens of Kejatara. Many Rahaa collapsed from exhaustion during this phase, and frequently, the basalt slabs would break loose of the fibers being used to hoist them up the slope and slide back down to the base of the mountain. Still, progress was being, and the fortress was approaching completion...

[Lleban]

The Cryptid Congress

Shah Honorebb Qualodias IV of The Rebellion


Diplomacy 5
Military 2 (+1)
Economy 10
Faith 3
Intrigue 8

Actions

[/URL]
Military hire unit

Diplomacy Attend SEN SURRENDER EXPO

• vassalize to SEN
• accept region 84

Intrigue SECRET

Military Hire unit

Military Hire unit

[/URL]Accounting
City: Cryptlantis +1 buyouts
Treasure: 2
Non Actions
assisting the conversion of 81's holy site

News and Rumours

1. Shah Honorebb Qualodias IV Denounce
   
2. 2

[Autumn Stars]

The Gravetenders
Turn 15

Elkelt, Voice of The Second
Diplomacy - 3 || Military- 3 || Economy - 6 || Faith - 5 || Intrigue - 1

Actions:

1: [Military] Defend the Eternal Spring from Deep Blue's invasion, in Region 51, [Magma Falls] [With assistence from Kar-nath, 13 units expected, 5 from the Gravetenders, 5 from Kar-Nath, 3 from Eternal Spring. Lead by Sersi to Pale, using [Dissertation In Practice] as the tactical doctrine, going through 77, 65, 66, 60, 55, 52.]

What would be a grand celebration is marred by battle preparations. Elkelt's first act as leader of the Gravetenders is to direct her creator to battle. The shoalmind Deep Blue is considered a friend and a fascination, but it must not be allowed to destroy their friends the Eternal Spring. Mammos is a threat, it seems, but the shoalmind has made a mistake.
There are only Gravetenders in Sersi's armies, but they march alongside Kar-Nath, their longest ally. Gravetender Nasko works with General Kreel to ensure the meetup is smooth and efficient, and the long history of joint training sorties means each Gravetender Unit has a corresponding fellow among the Nathi. Spears and tactics are exchanged, Sersi giving a crash course in her unique style of battle to Nathi soldiers already quite familiar. Deadwater Oil, to suffocate as many of the masses of Deep Blue as can be deterred, are passed out in mass, the largest military logistics operation the Gravetenders have ever overseen. Nasko's intense study of Kar-Nath is useful, here.
Their arrival in Magma Falls is preceded by Elkelt herself visiting through the Blossoming Icons. Arrangements are made with local forces and hired mercenaries, and an understanding of the land is achieved. It is nothing like Sersi's native land, but her strategy will adapt to this new territory. It must, after all. Perhaps, one day, this will be remembered well. More likely, it will not. Burrows are dug, clouds of false smoke are moved, and traps are set. Gravetender units are set before organics, simply because they are harder to kill, and every loss of life is a tragedy in Elkelt's eyes.

2: [Military] Raise Unit.

Even as Sersi marches west, more Gravetenders present themselves for training, many of them Lostlings. Their friends and inspirations and rivals must be kept safe, and the threats to the frozen waters have multiplied in recent years. Elkelt welcomes every one of these new warriors personally.

3: [Faith] DPB conversion, 187, HS 1 [Roll: 11 (-1 for distance), TN: 12. Failure!]

Deep Blue has asked to be brought from the Communion and into the Sequence. Despite the conflict, it falls to Elkelt to lead this movement. Fortunately, this form of debate is familiar. Unfortunately, Deep Blue has been of the Communion for a long while, and early attempts fall flat.

4: [Faith] DPB conversion, 57, HS 1 [Roll: 11 (-1 for distance), TN: 12. Failure!]

Further work continues to miss its mark, but Elkelt learns swiftly. Laksha steps in to resume her roll as spiritual guide, and Elkelt takes every word of the first Gravetender leader into her silver. Next time, she'll get it right.

5: [Faith] DPB conversion, 56, HS 1 [Roll: 16 (-1 for distance), TN: 12. Success!]

And she does. Elkelt sends several members of the Silvered Oath Of Ecumenical Exchange, first, and works alongside them to form the metaphorical bridge between the Communion and the Sequence. Deep Blue is willing, and so they will find it easy to Blossom.

6: [FAITH] DPB conversion, 55, HS 1 [Roll: 17 (-1 for distance), TN: 12. Success!]

Success begets success, growth begets growth. The Sequence carries ever onwards, and whispers throughout the faith speak of a new Blossoming, with Elkelt at the head.

Non-Actions:
[A Monumental Undertaking] [5/5] The Grand Archives

Finaly. Over a decade of effort. Elkelt's defining task. The very stone trembles as the final touches are added to the Grand Archive, as librarians and archivists and researchers take their new positions. The Grand Archive is finally open for the exchange of knowledge. It towers above even the Dead Cities, outshining the Makers themselves. Lined with Reliquaries, lined with artifacts gifted by their friends and allies. A centerpiece, every piece of information gleaned from the late Riftlings, is set in prominence early in the archives, that all may remember these good friends.
Elkelt is the first to enter, leading dozens and hundreds of Gravetenders behind her, many visiting via the Blossoming Icons. Her first, and potentially greatest achievement has been realized, and regardless of the stirrings of war and conflict, Elkelt takes pride in her efforts.

[The Reef Which Never Falls Silent: Host the Reef In Bloom. Followers of the Blossoming Sequence may attend as a faith action.]

The Reef In Bloom hosts an abortive attempt to create a functional Polar Council, which is shut down by the conflicts of Deep Blue and Eternal Spring. Elkelt remains hopeful, however, that before her reign is done, some peace can finally be brought.

[Blossoming Icons: Seek Aid on Action 1, defending the Eternal Spring [Roll: 13 TN: 10. Success!]

[Continue sending Kar-Nath Hard Metal via trade route.]

Spoiler: Stat Changes

Show

Ruler Stats And Increases:

Diplomacy - 3
Military - 3 > 4
Economy - 6
Faith - 5 > 7
Intrigue - 1

Spoiler: Statistics

Show

Spoiler: Special Actions

Show

Special Actions Available: Economy 5, Faith 5,
Special Actions Used: Diplomacy 5, Military 5*2, Economy 5, Faith 5*2, Faith 10

Spoiler: Diplomacy

Show

Reputation/Favors
The Abyssal Stewards: Rep 1, 0 Favor (Expected Change: None)
The Chelonian Chora: Rep 0, 0 Favor (Expected Change: None)
The Divine Nacre: Rep 0, 0 Favor (Expected Change: None)
International Prestige: Rep 3, Prestige 3 (Expected Change: None)

Cultural Exchanges
Deep Blue
The Shifting Ennead
The Riftlings Many

Cultural Identities
None

Spoiler: Military

Show

Units: 5 (Expected Change: None)

Aristocratic Support
78, 76, 81

Generals
Sersi The Pale [10]

Spoiler: Dissertation In Practice

Show

If fighting defensively (-1): +2 to battle roll (2 points), -20% own casualties (2 points), and -10% enemy casualties. (-2 points), +12 to enemy leader loss roll (-2 points)
If *also* outnumbered (-0.5): +2 to battle roll (2 points), +2 to Tactical Maneuvering (2.5 points), -20% enemy casualties (-2 points)

Fortresses
76

Perfected Tactical Doctrines
None

Military Technologies
None

Spoiler: Economy

Show

Treasure: 1 (Expected Change: -1)

Trade Posts
Total Owned 2
[76.2]Bastion: Electrum
[78.1]The Dead Cities: Preserved Food

Mercantile Support
78

Cities
None

Trade Routes
The Seatide Confederacy
Kar-Nath
Costa Seria

Specialized Ships
None

Civilian Technologies
Megafaunal Tailoring, Graduated Symbiosis, Photospore Signaling, Supernatic Propagation, Trophic Deconvolution, Composite Grafting.
Electrodialytic Staurozoa A specialized variety of sessile jellyfish, engineered by the Divine Nacres to partially desalinate seawater through electrodialysis across its outer membrane. Attaching them near the gills or other water intake organs provides cleaner and safer water at the cost of a buildup of supersaturated seawater inside the jellyfish’s body and precipitated calcium on the outside, which must be periodically expelled or scrubbed off, respectively. [Effect: May ignore the increased effective distance from a Briny border up to twice per round. This does not reduce the effect of Briny borders on distance loss calculations. Requirements: None.]

Spoiler: Faith

Show

The Blossoming Sequence

Faith Holy Sites: 18

[78.1]Dead City Urodela: This Dead City is placed such that the light which streams from above is channeled into a series of crystals, all sculpted into abstract forms.
[78.2]Dead City Tacca: Known for its meditation chamber, and the series of elaborate Reliquaries the faithful have built inside.
[78.3]Dead City Chantrieri: Chantrieri towers above the rest, precipitously built along a sharp dropoff.
[78.4][The Dead Cities:] The Sacred Oath Of Silver Currents
[69.2]Neoplastic Monolith: A great roiling mass of hard, stone-like flesh grows near the [direction of nearest waste or toxic border] border of Danabae. It shifts, grows, and consumes constantly, and is revered by some few who dare approach it. The Gravetenders have taken to reflecting upon it, and have built a temple nearby.
[76.1]Pardalis, The New City: The first city truly built by the Gravetenders, now dedicated as a holy place of the Blossoming Sequence.
[76.2]A Study Of War: A battlefield of the Makers, significant now to the Gravetenders as where they made their first steps to understanding violence.
[77.1]The Rime Gorge: The Rime Gorge, and the ritual it represents, is of great interest to the Blossoming Sequence. Many die, and those few that survive flourish with power.
[77.2]Grand Schola:
[77.3]Temple of Deep Currents:
[75.1]The Plains of Sarkenos:
[75.3]The Plains of Sarkenos:
[79.2]Seatide Crag:
[79.3]Stillwater:
[58.1]Core Site:
[58.4]Core Site: The Silvered Oath of Ecumenical Exchange
[81.1]
[81.2]

Clerical Support
78, 76, 75, 58, 77, 79, 81

Organized Faith Bonuses
+1 to holy site conversions.

Artifacts
None

Holy Orders
The Silvered Oath of Ecumenical Exchange [58]
Sacred Oath Of Silver Currents [78]

Miracles
The Reef Which Never Falls Silent: Hosts the Reef In Bloom event every round an a non-action, and allows followers of the Blossoming Sequence to attend as a Faith action.

Spoiler: Intrigue

Show

Spies

Spoiler: Claims

Show

78 - Historicity
76 - Integration
76, 78, 77, 75, 58, 79, 81 - Holy Sea

Spoiler: Wonder

Show

The Blossoming Icons:This wonder allows the country in control of Bastion (76) to take a modified Seek Aid action which reduces the effective distance for a Diplomacy and/or Faith action, rather than giving a bonus to the action roll. When taking this action, roll 2d6+Faith and subtract 11. Up to a roll of 18, this is the number of regions they subtract for the purposes of distance penalties. After 18, they subtract one more region for every 2 higher. (8 regions for a roll of 20, 9 regions for a roll of 22, etc.) In addition, they can Seek Aid as a nonaction once each round, for Diplomacy and Faith actions only.

Spoiler: Golems of Import

Show

Spoiler: Laksha

Show

The first leader of the Gravetenders, Laksha founded the Blossoming Sequence and works within the collaborative land of 59 to further the prospects of peace. Very nearly a pacifist by nature, her friendly manner served her well during rule. Many important aspects of Gravetender culture descend from her works, and among them, her arguments are held in high esteem even now.

Spoiler: Sersi The Pale

Show

The second leader of the Gravetenders, and their first General. Sersi literally wrote the book on Gravetender warfare, with her ‘Dissertations on the Path of War.’ She’s more aggressive and practical, and began the push to spread the Sequence, which started the Eternal Debate properly. Brought the Gravetenders to the status of Holy Sea. Made Elkelt, her Disciple.

Spoiler: Elkelt

Show

To be the third leader of the Gravetenders. Second generation Gravetender. Their form is made up of more than just stone, incorporating Maker elics and rimestone. Working on the Grand Archive project, for the aid of future Gravetenders.

Spoiler: Kelusyn

Show

Known as a living encyclopedia of the Maker resonance effect. Built the Blossoming Icons, freeing Gravetenders to see the world, and especially the lands around Bastion, without fear of the horrible fate of being Stilled. Brilliant, dedicated, and reclusive. She does not let go of a project until it is finished, for better or worse.

Spoiler: Akathi

Show

Sent to Seatide to study the Tidal Sequence. They have made a name for themselves there, and care deeply for the Pepsins of Seatide. Their work on the Firewall was important to getting everything in place, and brought Kelusyn into the project. Gregarious, even by Gravetender standards.

Spoiler: Nasko

Show

Went to Kar-Nath of his own intent, having written several texts on how the Blossoming Sequence interfaces with the Nathi way of life. Has taken up an important position in the Grand Schola, and settled in as a teacher and spiritual guide. He has made keeping the friendship between the Nathi and the Gravetenders strong into his personal project.

[Corona]

Most Serene Lojanese Republic
Time: Round 15, Place: Regions 5, 6, 9, 11, 12, 13 and 14
Prime Minister Hoerthd Thnoet
Diplomacy: 9
Military: 9
Economy: 10
Faith: 2
Intrigue: 6

rolls

Actions:

1. [Military]Recruit unit Changed with GM team permission
   [Military]Invade region 15 with:
   
   • General Zabkrew (9) using TD Graceful Show of Force (Sway roll 2d8 + 9 Diplomacy + 1 Prestige)
   • 4 units
   • 2 treasure spent: +1 to battle, +1 mercenary unit, +1 to battle from city Oarngalau
   • Ruler score: +5 to battle
   • Route: 13>15
   
   The Republic's armies are unstoppable. They will conquer all from waste to shining waste, overthrowing barbarian governments and spreading the enlightened rule of law.
   
2. [Military]Raise unit
   
   
3. [Economy]Activate Tairlav Palace, paying 1 treasure
   The Eel's splendor is mirrored on the palace walls. Or is it the other way around? Strangely untouched by the Eel's destructive nature, the Palace attracts more tourists and merchants than ever before. Some worship the Palace fanatically, prostrating themselves before it for days.
   
4. [Diplomacy]Sway merchants in Meadows of Elyan'dan (136) and buy out TP 136.1 Sway: 2d8 (CI) + 9 Dip + 1 Prestige - 1 Distance (6>138(TR)>136) + 1 treasure + 1 city Sheade vs TN 18 =18, Buyout: 2d6 + 10 Eco - 0 Distance (6>138(TR)>136, 1 negated by Tairlav Palace) vs TN 12 =13
   Having established initial contact with the Gothezhar and the temperate area, it was time to access their markets.
   
5. [Economy]Impress merchants in Kaarme (14) and buy out TP 14.1 Impress: 2d6 + 10 Eco - 0 Distance vs TN 12 (TP in 15, Hardplate Fungus satisifes desired import) =15, Buyout: 2d6 + 10 Eco - 0 Distance + 2 self-support =20
   The people of Kaarme have suffered through prolonged conflict and famines, but that had come to an end as Hoerthd personally tours the sea and assigns work to the end of rebuilding the region's economy.
   
6. [Diplomacy]Sway merchants in Lojan (9) and buy out TP 9.1 Sway: 2d8 (CI) + 9 Dip + 1 Prestige - 0 Distance vs TN 18 =13, Buyout: 2d6 + 10 Eco - 0 Distance + 2 self-support vs TN 12 =15
   
   
   

Non-Actions:
Accept technologies from LSD (Filtration Grafts, Trophic Deconvolution, Supernatic Propagation, and Composite Grafting)
Spy secret nonaction... done

Supply region 11 DI with Kelp Fiber from LSD trade route
Supply LSD with Selachian Mercenaries through trade route
[Renown] A Monumental Undertaking: Roof over Their Heads 2/3

Spoiler: Roof over Their Heads

Show

Using durable building materials such as Hardplate Fungus, tall spires in the likeness of the ancients' architecture are erected. They look like a black jungle, with the spires having an organic shape, pieced together from irregularly modules according to the needs of this or that government office. The modular design is easy to construct and useful, so it is standardized and replicated in government buildings in all territories of the Republic. The towers become a symbol of the Republic's rule.

News and Rumors:

Spoiler: Ruler

Show

Prime Minister Hoerthd Thnoet
Next round stats:
Diplomacy: 10
Military: 10
Economy: 10
Faith: 2
Intrigue: 6

New ruler next round? No

Note to fellow players: I want to live dangerously, so you may assassinate, kidnap or otherwise ravish my rulers at any time. You don't need to approach me first, surprises are fine too. IC resistance and retaliation will be be offered, of course.

Spoiler: Country Info, last update R11

Show

Actions to take: sway merchants in 8,9, aristo in 15 and other conquests.

Special Actions Available: D5
Special Actions Used: E5 M5 I5

Diplomacy

Spoiler

Show

Region Ownership/Claims/Supports Table to be simplified?


Reputation/Favours To be updated
The Abyssal Stewards: Rep 1, 1 Favours (Expected Change: +1 Rep)
The Chelonian Chora: Rep 0, 0 Favours (Expected Change: None)
The Divine Nacres: Rep 1, 0 Favours (Expected Change: None)
International Prestige: Rep 2, 0 Progress (Expected Change: None)

Cultural Exchanges
Lambent Syndicate
Coral of the Protected Statera RIP

Cultural Identities
Let's Have a Cuppa - 2d8 to Swaying

Military

Spoiler

Show

Units: 9/10 (Expected Change: ??)

• Republican Guards - recruited R1, was destroyed in the 1st invasion of Kaarme, rerecruited R12
• 1st Selachian Battalion - hired R2, looted a temple in Bloodhome, fought in the 1st invasion of Kaarme
• 2nd Selachian Battalion - hired R2
• Black Guards - hired R3, assassinated the Plo'uogoar
• Selachian Elites - gained R7
• Region 13 unit - gained R9
• Sheade Regulars - recruited R10
• Special Operations Forces - recruited R11
• Kaarme Nobles - recruited R11

Generals
Zabkrew - Mil 9, Graceful Show of Force:
+1 to tactical maneuvering
-20% enemy casualties
-20% own casualties
+12 to enemy leader loss roll
+2 to own leader loss roll
You may make a Sway attempt against a randomly determined support in the battlefield region (regardless of the outcome of the battle)

Fortresses
Huurdrav, Lojan

Perfected Tactical Doctrines
None

Military Technologies
Death Commando Conditioning +1 to battle, requires Lamia Extract

Economy

Spoiler

Show

Treasure: 7 (Expected Change: -4+3)
Trade post income: 3 Treasure/round

Trade Posts List to be simplified
Total Owned ?? (?? for Treasure gain)

Cities
Sheade, Lojan - Swaying
Oarngalau, Selach - Battles

Trade Routes
Coral of the Protected Statera RIP
Lambent Syndicate
Lighthouse
Forests of Astral Yearning

Specialised Ships
Losinka Alaku: A Specialized Ship in the form of a Juvenile Reefback with an experienced crew. +4 vs theft, +1 to Explorations and Buyouts made with it.

Civilian Technologies
Megafaunal Tailoring No mechanical effect
Graduated Symbiosis No mechanical effect

Faith

Spoiler

Show

State Faith: Shimmers of Unseen Bane

Faith Holy Sites: lots

Organised Faith Bonuses
+1 Conversions, 2d8 to Impressing

Artefacts
None

Holy Orders
None

Miracles
SUB followers can cross toxic borders.

Intrigue

Spoiler

Show

Spies
Intrigue 7 Spy

Spoiler: Interesting quests

Show

ABS

[Offer] Bounty of the Depths -

(Offer: The Abyssal Stewards are offering Treasure! Benefit: 2 or 5 Treasure. Cost: 1 Favor for 2 Treasure, 2 Favors for 5 Treasure. Duration: Available until the end of Round 15. Details: Available to countries of Reputation -1 or higher. )

[Opportunity] Fueling The Forge -

(Opportunity: Countries may provide Units, Food, Labor, or Heat Sources to repay debts to the Abyssal Stewards. Reward: 1 Favor. Cost: 2 Units or 1 suitable Trade Post per Favor. Deadline: Available indefinitely - desired goods may change over time. Opportunity may disappear with 1 round’s notice. Details: Non-action to gift Units/Trading Posts. May not be used if no Favors are owed. )

CCA

[Action - Faith] Work on a means of unmaking the Dreaming Dead 2/? -

[Request] A Little Less Lonely Road -
(Request: The Chelonian Chora would be delighted to see established countries keeping them company in the Wastes. Reward: +1 Reputation for successfully Exploring or Prospecting a Wastes region. On a Wastes region Prospecting roll of 16 or higher, +1 Favor. Penalty: None. Deadline: Available until the end of round 15. Details: Available to countries with Reputation -2 or higher. Max of +2 Reputation from this request per Country.)

[Opportunity] An Appetite For Abundance -

(Opportunity: Countries may provide Treasure, Luxuries, Esoterica, or Fertilizer to repay debts to the Chelonian Chora. Reward: 1 or more Favors. Cost: 3 Treasure or 1 suitable Trade Post per Favor. Deadline: Available indefinitely - desired goods may change over time. Opportunity may disappear with 1 round’s notice. Details: Non-action to gift Treasure/Trading Posts. May not be used if no Favors are owed.)

Taboo: The Chelonian Chora have a religious vendetta against The Dreaming Dead. Penalty: -2 CCA Reputation for adopting The Dreaming Dead as a state religion; additional -1 CCA Reputation every turn thereafter unless abandoned, which grants +1 CCA Reputation. Duration: Indefinite. Details: None.)

(Task: Cooperate in the creation of the Songline of the Sunlit Seas. Available for Tropical zone countries only. Reward: +2 Favors (max); if Project is completed, additional reward given to all contributors. Penalty: None. Deadline: End of Round 12. Details: 1 Favor earned per sufficient length/content fluff submission fit for inclusion in the Songline. 1 Favor earned for spending a Faith action to contribute to the Project. Fluff submissions will still be accepted and eligible for Favor gains if the project is completed before the request duration expires.)

DNA

[Opportunity] A Need For Knowledge -
(Opportunity: Countries may provide Technologies, Toxins, Exotic Flora, or Exotic Fauna to repay debts to the Divine Nacres. Reward: 1 or more Favors. Cost: 1 previously unknown Technology or 1 suitable Trade Post per Favor. Deadline: Available indefinitely - desired goods may change over time. Opportunity may disappear with 1 round’s notice. Details: Non-action to gift Technology/Trading Posts. May not be used if no Favors are owed.)

[Offer] Survival Of The Fittest -
(Offer: The Divine Nacres are offering to procure Trading Posts for countries they like through means some might consider predatory. Benefit: The Divine Nacres will attempt to Coerce Trading Posts on a country’s behalf. Cost: 1 Favor per Coercion attempt. Duration: Available until the end of Round 15. Details: Normal restrictions on Coercion apply. Available to Reputation 1 or higher countries, and will not target TPs belonging to countries with a higher Reputation than the requesting country - other Organizations are considered to have a Reputation of 2 for this purpose.)

(Circumstance: The Divine Nacres are returning to their traditional seclusion. Benefit: None.Penalty: The TN to Raise Reputation with the Divine Nacres is increased by 2. Additionally, when using a Favor to Raise Reputation, it still requires a roll (though not an action), but the country which spent the favor gains a +2 bonus on said roll. Duration: From the start of round 10 to the end of round 15. Details: None.)

PRS


[Honor] Remarkable Reconstruction -
When a country rebuilds a TP or Holy Site that was destroyed by the Reavers, they may choose to let it enter play Open, rather than under their control. If they do so, they gain +1 Prestige. If a country donates 2 Units as a non-action to a region that lost units to the Reavers, they gain +1 Prestige and the region no longer qualifies for such donations by other countries. If a country successfully Sways or Impresses a Reaved Faction in a region they don’t control, they may choose for it to become Open instead of gaining the Faction’s Support; for every second Faction they restore in this way, they gain +1 Prestige. Special: Any country may rebuild Holy Sites or TPs destroyed by Reavers in uncontrolled regions. If multiple countries donate Units to a region that lost units to the Reavers, they both gain the Prestige, and the region gains the Units from all such donations received.

[Mystique] Renegades, Turnskins, And Defectors -
The first country in each starting zone to successfully Incite Betrayal will gain 1 Prestige. The first rebellion to arise on behalf of a specific country in each starting zone will gain that country 1 Prestige. The successful use of either the Galvanize Partisans Intrigue 5 Special Action or the Spark Claimant Revolt Diplomacy Action will suffice for fulfilling the second half of this opportunity; the Inspire Uprising or Spark Rebellion actions will not.


[Piety] The Religious Community -
(Opportunity: The first country in each starting zone to found a Holy Order will gain 1 Prestige. Duration: End of round 12. Special: If multiple countries in the same starting zone found a Holy Order in the same round before any others, both countries will gain the additional Prestige.)

Indefinite duration effects

[Strife] Big Fish In Small Ponds -

Prestige and PRS Rank will no longer correlate one to one: to reach PRS Rank 3 from PRS Rank 2 will require 2 Prestige, while reaching PRS Rank 4 from PRS Rank 3 will require 3 Prestige. This Prestige does not have to be earned in the same turn. Reaching PRS Rank -3 from PRS Rank -2 requires the loss of 2 Prestige in the same turn. If all available positions at a given PRS Rank are occupied when a new country would reach said rank, the country which gained Prestige least recently has their PRS Rank reduced by 1. Ties are resolved by roll-off with the tying country’s highest respective attributes, with the lowest rolls losing. Changing rulers will no longer result in PRS Rank loss when at PRS Rank 3 or 4, but will reset any accumulated Prestige to 0.
Special: The loss of Prestige still causes a loss of PRS Rank. Gaining Prestige when at PRS Rank 2 or 3 which is insufficient to rise to the next PRS Rank, or gaining Prestige when at PRS Rank 4, still counts for determining which country gained Prestige least recently. Losing PRS Rank resets the clock and clears out any accumulated Prestige which was insufficient to reach the next Rank, and counts as an instance of gaining Prestige for timing purposes only.

[Renown] A Monumental Undertaking -

Can work on one monument or similarly grand project in a region you control as a non-action. This requires a fluff description of the ongoing work, design, difficulties, progress, or similar. Three to four sentences should usually be sufficient. When beginning such a project, must decide on a 3-part project (+1 PRS) or 5-part project (+2 PRS).

[Acclaim] To Greatness -

Sea Power, Empire, Merchant Marine, or Holy Sea -> 1 Prestige. Usurpation results in Prestige loss for the usurped country.

[Honor] Blood, Stone, and Ink - PRS treaties can be made.
[Affluence] Opulent Optics - May spend 5 Wealth as non-action to gain 1 Prestige.
[Mendacity] A Lack Of Commitment - Prestige loss if a country Oppresses a faction in a region on which they have a Confederation claim. Prestige loss if a country backs down from an Ultimatum it has made.

[Notoriety] The Fragility of Fear -
[Ignominy] Stigma, Scandal, and Shame -

Prestige loss will be assigned: experience a rebellion in response to a failed Oppress Faction or Impress Aristocracy action, commit gross atrocities.
Prestige loss may be assigned: forced to acquiesce to a rebellion’s demands, badly lose a battle heavily favored to win, grossly humiliated or suffer a gross embarrassment.
Return captured general: can give -1 PRS to the other party, captured ruler: -2 PRS.

[LapisCattis]

End of Round Fifteen
No further mechanical edits to action posts may be made

[LapisCattis]

Round Sixteen: Begin
Years 46 - 48

Don’t forget to link to any rolls you make, including rolls for rulers you will start using at the start of next round. If you want a new ruler in the next round, you must state so in your action post for this round and link to their rolls. Any increases from actions for this round are counted for the ruler you start your next round with, which may or may not be your current ruler.
Good luck!

The following events occurred between Year 43 - Year 45

Rules Alerts and Changes!


Discovery!
Explorations, prospecting, and other news from afar



Travel can only go so smoothly, though for Squall Essensio the challenge is half the fun. First, the cold nearly turned the surface waters into barely traversable slush, and then Squall Essensio managed to get on the wrong side of some very pointed spears. Pressed against a crucial twisting point of deepwater currents and a clearly wasted region, vibrant chains of small settlements take advantage of the high creature traffic and nutrients. Red rock is widespread here, carved with deep grooves the size of whales by the flow of ancient ice, and now filled with intermittent mats of algae and piles of sea stars and crawling fish. Creeping corals spread their branches wide at the edges of the grooves, and the looming cloud of waste turns the water gold when day and night meet. After some very animated charades, scouts later find Squall Essensio sharing stories and food with the locals
The Gotezhar discover Region 171, a glacial Depth 0 region with two Trade Posts of Guildborn Cultivators, a Desired Import of Valuables, one Open Holy Site, one Holy Site controlled by the Godblooded, and two NPC units. The Gotezhar gain 1 Treasure and +1 to a single buyout attempt in the region

Heading east, the Surunung scouts find a new set of landmarks - clusters of tall, white spires rising from the deep, spread out through the open ocean zone. Pods of dolphins and porpoises reside at each cluster, with apparent distinction between the groups of one cluster and another. Strong currents bring fish and floating debris alike, though the presence of the resident cetaceans appears to dissuade migrants. It appears that the bottom of the spires turn dark, though the depth prevents the scouts from investigating further.
The Peacekeepers of Surunung discover Region 160, a Depth 1 region with three Open Trade Posts of Blackbeaked Dolphins, a Desired Import of Military Equipment, two Holy Sites controlled by the New Wardens, and three NPC units

Using their small size to stay clear of the Eel Without End’s slow travel past Lowpeak Reef, the Splendid Miru Miru scouts are able to slowly and discreetly chart the bottom of the seamount on which it was founded - apparently formed by multiple successive generations of Reefs, judging by the rock formations. Beyond the wide base of that mount, the terrain grows rough and jagged, with poor, sandy soils, populated by innumerable small towns and villages largely dependent on the Choran trade via fallen goods and widely available markets in order to supplement what meager agricultural products they can produce themselves.
The Splendid Miru Miru completes the exploration of the depths of Region 149, which now has one Holy Site controlled by the Worldsong, one Holy Site controlled by Animist Practices, a Desired Import of Fertilizers, and two NPC units! The Splendid Miru Miru gain a +1 to a single buyout attempt in the region.

Ranging to the north, the Divine Nacres find an area of endless calm. While the fathomless depths are now nothing new, what draws attention are the constant streams of bubbles and smoke rising in steady columns from the seafloor. The soot-strewn bubbles are the only source of heat in these frigid waters, which are otherwise clear but dangerous to any who venture in unprepared. The only impediment to vision is a dark, stagnant fog, distinct from the blurring of shape that naturally occurs over distance, from which protrude the tops of structures clearly in the style of the Abyssal Stewards. This fog appears to be quite nutritious, or containing something nutritious, if the number of sharks darting from the surface to feed are any indication. Beneath the fog, the true depth of the region is hard to discern, though the Nacres’ report is able to give at least a vague estimate - they claim their instruments are unable to penetrate the fog-like layer below.
On behalf of Lux-Glossia, the Divine Nacres discover Region 143, a glacial Depth 2 region with three Open Trade Posts of Smoke-Diver Sharks and clear signs of an Abyssal Stewards base in the currently uncharted depths

Below the colonies of Mammoth Seals and migration routes for all manner of creatures, the punishment of the Magenta Shade instead reveals an incredible sight. Resting on gray sands and meandering shelves of large boulders are the visible bones of a thousand beings, ranging from a massive, dragon-like remnant mostly buried in the accumulated marine snow to fresh whale and fish carcasses, writhing with eels and scavengers.
Lux-Glossia finishes exploring the depths of Region 186, which show to be Open Waters. Lux-Glossia gains a +1 bonus to Colonizing this region

Chasing adventure (and perhaps new shark-racing courses), a band of Lux-Glossian men and the friends they’ve made along the way try out both riding the plumes of hot water and exploring even deeper into the new home of the Shark People. Stocked with the latest in depth technology and supplies, the nomads have an exhilarating instead of terrifying time of navigating the bubbles and rapidly shifting currents of warm water. The temperamental patterns are predictable enough for highly experienced sailors, but are still fierce enough to dissuade other creatures from venturing deeper, and the nomads are unchallenged as they follow the plumes down. It becomes obvious that these pockets of water and minerals are sourced from a jagged range of hydrothermal vents, laced with minerals and shining black rock. Below the plumes, the water is frigid but crystal clear, and almost completely calm, barring small streams of bubbles escaping from the seafloor.
Lux-Glossia finishes exploring the depths of Region 152, which show to be Open Waters. Lux-Glossia gains a +1 bonus to Colonizing this region

Learning from the charts and testimony of the crew of the Crimson Moonlight, the Wayfarer is careful to move slowly and keep lookouts for the treacherously hidden seamounts and any other obstructions in the depths. Caution and good supplies pay off, and the crew is able to safely chart the mountainous seafloor despite dangerous amounts of silt. Inside the barrels of large sponges that cover the base and lower sides of the seamounts are collections of powdery by-products of filtration, which have surprising flavors and application in the culinary arts
[b] The Cyphiri Union Prospects Region W34, spending 1 treasure and 1 CCA favor in the process. They discover three Open Trade Posts of Fate Spice [b]

Outstanding Fluff:
At long last, the secrets of the region that seemed to spawn the Shark People and numerous religious struggles, bordering the uninhabitable northern Wastes, are revealed. Soft, pale sands shift with the darkening of the water to harsh shards of crystal and rock, melding together in geometric patterns and pockets where arching anemones and clams attempt to root. The water is startlingly clear for how close it borders the Wastes, while an observer from the surface can’t see straight down, once the boundary of crystal is passed, it is quite easy to see circular structures in the depths, interspersed and apparently using the alternating softness and hardness of the substrate for construction. As scouts approach the boundary of the Wastes, the anemones cluster and reach heights of several meters, forming an underwater forest stretching from northwest to southeast.
The Shifting Ennead explores the seafloor of 73, revealing a Depth 1 region with one Holy Site controlled by The Ancient Tails and one Open Holy Site, with a Desired Import of Drugs - until the region is prospected, the resource remains unchanged.

Growth!
Expansion, development, unification, and similar forms of growth and prosperity.

Pfilghol completes the rebuilding of Ghlsgtot
The Resource in Region 105 is set to Rotweaver Worms with 3 Trade Posts
The Order of Knights of the Ironkelp create a Cultural Exchange with Lux-Glossia
The Order of Knights of the Ironkelp press a Confederation Claim on Region 176
The Gotezhar grant ownership of Region 141 to Lux-Glossia
The Splendid Miru Miru Raise the City of Canapa in Region 153! Effect: +1 Bonus to Buyouts
The Kar-Nath Hegemony Press a Marriage Claim on Region 63
The Magaramchi Salination Colonizes Region 154
Lux-Glossia accepts the Greenwater (Region 141) from the Gotezhar
The Shifting Ennead return Region 84 to the Cryptid Congress


Statecraft!
Cultural events, diplomatic overtures, foreign relations, and domestic affairs.

• The Cyphiri Union Impresses the Aristocratic Support in Region 129
• The Cyphiri Union Impresses the Reaved Aristocratic Support in Region 101
• The Sakura-Jin Impresses the Clerical Support in Region 125
• The Cost Sereia Impress the Mercantile Support in Region 103
• The Eternal Spring impresses the Merchant Support in Region 56
• The Eternal Spring impresses the Clerical Support in Region 74

• The Order of Knights of the Ironkelp Sway the Reaved Aristocratic Support in Region 109
• The Order of Knights of the Ironkelp Sway the Reaved Aristocratic Support in Region 118
• The Costa Sereia Sway the Unruly Clergy in Region 103 to Open
• The Kar-Nath Hegemony Sway the Reaved Aristocratic Support in Region 64

The Cryptid Congress vassalizes to the Shifting Ennead!
The Cryptid Congress in exile bows to the pressure from their conquerors, breaking their vassalage to Deep Blue and aligning themselves under the Doflein, taking the Ennead as liege. In exchange, they are allowed to return to self-governance in Region 84.


Trade!
Buyouts, trade routes, and other economic shenanigans

• The Order of Knights of the Ironkelp buy out Trade Post 1 in Region 114 for Giantsbane Seeds
• The Gotezhar build a new Trade Post in Region 13
• The Splendid Miru Miru buy out Trade post 3 in Region 3 for Carapace Armor with support from Hymenocera Expanse
• The Seatide Confederacy buys out Trade Post 1 in region 64 for Frozen Logs
• The Seatide Confederacy buys out Trade Post 2 in Region 67 for Piezo-Phosphoric Crystals
• The Hymenocera Expanse buys out Trade Post 2 in Region 30 for Branch Coral
• The Hymenocera Expanse buys out Trade Post 3 in Region 153 for Decor

The Magaramachi Salination rebrands its Magaramachi Whelps to Magaramchi Rippers, offering the world’s best mercenaries for sale!

Faith!
Conversions, organization, and other such matters of faith

The Eternal Spring becomes Head of the Eternal Communion in the Riftlings’ absence.
The Lighthouse sets the Holy Site 10 Bonus for Crimson Chant to a 2d8 to Sacks!
The Sakura-Jin rebuilds and reconsecrates Holy Sites 1 and 2 in Region 117

• The Sakura-Jin convert Holy Site 1 in Region 104
• The Gravetenders convert Holy Site 1 in Region 56 from the Eternal Communion to the Blossoming Sequence!
• The Gravetenders convert Holy Site 1 in Region 55 from the Eternal Communion to the Blossoming Sequence
• The Hymenocera Expanse converts Holy Site 3 in Region 4 from the Dreaming Dead to Uplift Reverence
• The Hymenocera Expanse converts Holy Site 1 in Region 29 from Ancestor Worship to Uplift Reverence
• The Lighthouse converts Holy Site 1 in Region 18 to Crimson Chant

Wonder!
Miracles and inventions, ancient relics and spectacular undertakings

Out of the emptiness and desolation, crawling from the Mother’s maw in the wake of a Titan of unspeakable size, the Riftborn Myriad arise as heirs to what the Riftlings cheerfully abandoned. Billions of hungry crabs, swarming together in packs of hundreds, are shepherded by trillions of polyps. More stream constantly from the reopened rifts, now coated in shining encrustations of eggs, between which the Old Fathers stretch, spewing forth a vomitous stream of polyps. Arising from extinction, the Riftborn Myriad are born, myriad, of the rift.

The Sakura Jin develop a new technology! Scrying requires a shiny object and grants the following: on a seek aid roll with result 18 or higher, the seek aid provides a bonus of +2

The Splendid Miru Miru discover an artifact - Hohonu Kapehu, the Compass of the Depths
Effect: Once per round, the owner of this artifact may apply +2 to a Buyout or Prospect action in a region with depth greater than but not equal to zero.

The Gravetenders complete a monumental undertaking: The Grand Archives! A civilization crowned from their birth in glories, the Gravetenders add yet another jewel to their crown, elevating their Makers by exceeding them. Their libraries now tower above the Dead Cities, a shining beacon of hope for collaboration and mutual advancement. Of course, like all things wrought by this noble race ascended from the dust of their Makers, tragedy tinges achievement, and the Archives serve also as a monument to a friendship immortalized and lost, their centerpiece a remembrance of the unlikely allies, the Riftlings Many.

Mammos Miracle targeting Deep Blue - fluff to be filled in upon greater provision of such…

Spoiler: Mechanical Impacts

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Mechanical Impacts:
ESP Impresses Merchants in Spawn Point (56)
ESP converts Holy Site 1 in Coresite (58) to Communion of the Old Fathers.
ESP Impresses Clergy in Spawn Point (56), Tsy Micht Fivrivirvs (57), and Coresite (58).
ESP Encourages Defiance among the Clergy of Spawn Point (56), Tsy Micht Fivrivirvs (57), and Coresite (58).

Outstanding techs/items:
DPB develops Memetic Cohesion - a mil tech granting +1 to Maneuvering and battles if using a subcommander

Might!
Military matters of all kinds, be it warfare or strategic developments

The Cyphiri Union recruits Renald, a Military 8 General and Commander of the Retainer Guard

The Gotezhar perfect the Tactical Doctrine - Aim for the Storm’s Center

Led by Military Sub-Process 41 (Military 5) with a Military 8 Ruler, 16 DPB Units supported by 5 SEN allied units invade Magma Falls (Region 51), equipped with Memetic Cohesion and Devolved Standardized Integrations spending 1 treasure and attempting to use Skirmish swarm to fight a combined force led ultimately by the renowned general Sersi the Pale (Military 10) with a Military 3 ruler. They command 5 units supplied by GRV alongside 2 units of ESP mercenaries and another of aristocratic levies and 5 KNH units, defending a well-supplied (1 Treasure spent) Fortress, with Aid Sought. Sersei the Pale attempts to use Dissertation in Practice defensively.

GRV wins Tactical Maneuvering, successfully using Dissertation in Practice (when defending and outnumbered: +2 to Tactical Maneuvering, +4 to battle roll, -20% own casualties, -30% enemy casualties, +12 to enemy leader loss roll)

The drums of war beat in the southern seas. Arraying themselves before the great fortress-complex of Magma Falls, the invading herrings dispersed themselves throughout multiple interweaving schools, with Shifting Ennead troops positioned wherever a multivariable regression analysis indicated a need for hard resistance, but the formation immediately begins to suffer from additional unaccountable variables: traps laid by the Gravetenders and their allies, severely hampering their ability to plan out troop movements and keep them moving on schedule. The Gravetenders had trained together before with Kar-Nathi troops, and understood how to coordinate efficient and well-timed sallies to keep their enemies disorganized, without opening up their less durable allies to attacks.

If there had been a hope that the imbalance in mass would make the Golems safe from Deep Blue's attacks, this was quickly disproven. While, granted, an individual herring could do little against an individual Gravetender, the truth was they were not fighting "an individual herring". In terms of raw organisms the Gravetender alliance was likely outnumbered hundreds of thousands to one before even considering the Shifting Ennead’s troops. Herrings crash against Sersi’s forces like waves on rocks - and with a similar degree of efficacy, as her force’s ranks hold fast time and again, each rush leaving more dead fish littering the seafloor. This did not mean there was no progress to be made, as soldiers of the Ennead would attempt to use the herring surges as cover for charges and more focused harassment, but Kar-Nathi skirmishers and the strange, half-possessed mercenaries of the Eternal Springs are able to quickly respond to breaks in the line.

For hours, it was nearly impossible to tell the course of the battle - the sheer quantity of herring making it impossible to get any sensible overview of the fight. Eventually, though, the depleted local processing ability and myriad of combats overwhelmed Mask of Green-and-Gray-and-Blue's processing capacity; groups of herring started to lose cohesion, and the defenders took advantage, carving through herrings while they were stuck in wait cycles without new orders from the herring-mind, and pouncing on isolated groups of Shifting Ennead troops. Eventually a certain subroutine returned False and those herring still controlled by Mask of Green-and-Gray-and-Blue left the field. All that’s left behind is a sea of corpses.

GRV Victory! No change of control in Magma Falls (Region 51)! 3 DPB units lost, 2 SEN units lost, 1 GRV unit lost, 1 KNH unit lost!

The Seatide Confederacy sends five units to Region 71, along with the Bare Trap, to defend against Reaver incursion and to capture an invader. See Terror for more information…

Schemes!
Coercion, betrayals, and spycraft

Rella Lestar, Spy of the Gotezhar adopts a new name, Researcher 42

The Lambent Syndicate procures a Spy with an Intrigue score of 8 - Setia, the Forgotten rises again during Adiratna’s transition from power.

The Costa Sereia procure a Spy with an Intrigue score of 8 - the Circo Luto Perdida delivers news and cheer on the same shell platter, and its skilled performers happily adopt any required role

The Peacekeepers of Surunung procure a spy with an Intrigue score of 7 - Cilaya the Poison Dart! An infamous Rahaa thief, Cilaya has been reformed into a prime tool for the Keja Pod.

The investigators of the Lambent Syndicate find that the best way to understand Indah in her Radiance is probably just to ask one of the half-mad kosong priests of the Lighthouse - the best harmonizing media turns out to be certain metal devices sourced from the Abyssal Stwards, but those dissidents with strong enough minds and wills to withstand the endless onslaught of the Eel Without End long enough to have, perhaps, learned to understand it are usually also firm enough in their convictions that they refuse to allow themselves to be used by a regime they despise. Many begin to laugh, weep, or simply smile serenely as they allow themselves to be sublimated into the Eel, whatever secret techniques they may have gleaned lost - forever.

The efforts of the Cyphiri in retrieving the deposits left by the Trawling Beasts pay off in the form of enough materials both precious and utilitarian as to have acquired 3 Treasure and ready-made materials sufficient to double the effectiveness of 3 Project Actions - and there’s at least as much remaining.

Terror!
Violence, upheaval, murder, and destruction.

The Riftlings Many complete the Extinction project exterminating the Chrysomallon Kiwa, the so-called Occupying Natives, and are themselves no more
Ashes to ashes, funk to funky, the Riftlings learned much from their xenophilic allies, the Gravetenders, but never was their fundamental nature changed. That we must treat one another as we would ourselves be treated is oft touted as a golden rule, but that alien occupiers may never be permitted to remain in the Mother’s land, well, that is a rule of dust and desolation, a much higher law. And so, in a gilded desecration, the Riftlings joined the Kiwa in their fate – for if one accepts extinction for themselves, then surely they would be permitted to deal it to another?

The Shark People sack Trade Post 1 in Region 66!
The Shark People sack Trade Post 1 in Region 158!
The Magaramchi Salination sacks Holy Site 3 in Region 10!

After years of disruption and raiding from different factions of warring Legions, the only relief that the commonfolk and merchants of Region 49 have gained is from the steady, discreet channels of goods and wealth brought by Lux-Glossian merchants. As raids and abuse come to a head, common frustrations and the potential for common boons unify merchants and one faction of Legions. Together, they overtake the corrupt Legions and declare loyalty for Lux-Glossia

In a shocking revelation, the Kar-Nath Hegemony discover that herrings of Deep Blue, this time seemingly of their own volition and agenda, have attempted to seed discontent and ideas of removing Kar-Nath influence from the aristocracy in Region 77. Their campaign targeted both the general public and unsatisfied aristocrats in an attempt at a two-pronged political attack, but collected too much attention for subtlety, and too few genuine grievances for proper resentment.

The Drifts of the Seatide Confederacy receive a delegation in kind from the Draigiau Residuum, along with a giant letter,

Spoiler: Letter to Judge Azure Gleam of the Seatide Confederacy

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On behalf of Tadgceallachmarix, The Thunder That Burns, Lord of the Residuum Renewed, Foremost Among the Great Dragons of the Water; To the Honorable and Forthright Judge Azure Gleam, of the Illustrious Confederacy of Seatide;

The kindness and sincerity of thy words are well-received, and thy generous gifts show thee and thine people to be of the highest merit, of such kindred spirit as to be counted among the ranks of my hoardless forebears, were only your mortal shell of such dimensions. It is my dearest hope that myself and my kinfolk will have the opportunity to return to thee a boon equally as propitious.

My lengthy repose was of such considerable duration that the oceans themselves have changed amid the absence of my waking, and I had much feared, upon seeing the sorry state of my kind, that the peoples of the world had diminished in heart as much as they had in stature - but now thy happy reception has put my hearts at ease.

The ambitions I hold for my people are those of every proper ruler - prosperity, autonomy, and influence. I am told by my advisors that the trade with thine people has been of great merit at assisting in the first of these, and already thy officers place themselves at the disposal of my deputies so that together we might destroy these ‘Reavers’ who think they can steal from a True Dragon without consequence!

As a sign of goodwill, thy Honor, I offer thee my next shell-molt, whole and entire, to do with as thy will, to be granted whensoever such need next overtakes me. May it serve thee as well as it has served me these many centuries past, in rousing and repose alike.

Faithfully yours,
Tadgceallachmarix the Azure, of the Residuum Renewed

As the Nacres pass through tropical waters less and less in the absence of any Holdfasts, the Reavers appear to become emboldened, and minor raids slowly grow more commonplace - when they strike in force, however, they are as fierce as ever, descending in the wake of their shrieking strobe-bursts to assault whatever bewildered defenders might attempt to hold out. From fresh recruits of the Lighthouse to the merchant families of insignificant powers and even priests within the Lambent Syndicate, the oceans are victims of terror once again.

In Aelwyd Adferiad, however, the first sign that things might not go as planned is perhaps the Reaver who becomes engulfed in - of all things - a pit trap. One which somehow refuses to let its victim go, no matter their struggles or the strivings of their fellow raiders.

The raid on the Draigiau aristocracy of Aelwyd Adferiad is certainly adequate, but it soon becomes apparent that their attack was - somehow - unfathomably - anticipated by their targets - who had reinforcements stationed ready to respond at a moment’s notice. Even more concerning was the sudden disappearance of one of their skimmer craft on the surface, and the screams of their comrades - reports of a beast larger than a whale that could rip ships in two with a single claw. Retreat was the only option left to them...


Soon after, another, larger, delegation is en route from Aelwyd Adferiad to Seatide, with strange contraptions in tow…
The Aristocracy Supports in Budak Perak (18) and Aelwyd Adferiad (71) become Reaved!
The Clerical Support in Kemenangan Adiratna (28) becomes Reaved!
The Mercantile Supports in Region 126 and Region 170 become Reaved!

Reavers sack and destroy Holy Site 2 in Kemenangan Adiratna (28)!
Reavers sack Trading Post 1 in Lupomata (4), and it becomes Open!
Reavers would sack Trading Post 1 in Region 126 and Trading Post 1 in Region 170, but there was nothing to sack!
The Lighthouse loses one of their newly recruited Units to Reaver predation!

From the former lands of the Riftlings Many - once barren, now untended as the first signs of life colonize their well-fertilized borders - a great cry resounds, low and keening, in the wake of their final end, audible for a thousand leagues in every direction. With melancholy rhythm, it speaks of loss in a language now long-forgotten - forgotten by all save one.

From the depths of Aelwyd Adferiad comes an answering cry - one filled not only with grief, but rage - incandescent, incredulous, indomitable. In turn, the mourning it answers is joined likewise by not just fury, but scorn. Though they shift and respond to one another like the melodies of a song, they are anything but. Instead the two great cries clash with one another, crashing together with such calamitous force as to make it clear - these two forces could never coexist without leaving devastation in their wake.

Organizations!

CYP finishes a Monumental Undertaking for +1 Prestige

CYP repays the Divine Nacres through A Need For Knowledge with Mamomachines and Traveling Scholars for +2 DNA Favors.

LUX repays the Divine Nacres with Razor Current Netting and Bioluminescent Navigation for +2 DNA Favors

LUX ask the DNA to Share Survey Data east of Region 121, at the cost of 1 DNA favor

Though the Riftlings Many are no more, their final acts are not those of the illustrious or the powerful - nor are they even truly worthy of pity, for in their self-inflicted demise, they dragged another with them into the oblivion of the unworthy. Such acts are impressively abhorrent - a dedication to atrocity unrivaled in all the world. A great relief, then, that they are at least ended now, and unable to inflict such abominable deeds on anyone else…if not for the Riftborn Myriad.
RFT loses 3 Prestige.

DNA tech reward from the Genus Taxonomia Vadosus Mare:
Papershell Draft-Cuttle - Effect: Ignore the increased border cost of up to two Brackish borders per round for distance penalty purposes; +1 to Prospect attempts in depth 0 Colony regions.
Requirements: Supernatic Propagation, Anoxic Adaptation
An exceptionally large, specialized variant of the cuttlefish with augments and splices taken from the Dashasham Riding-Squid, Lãkuviato, domesticated Whip-Tail, and internal records regarding Paper Nautili, this creature is exceptionally hardy in thin or murky water - even able to supplement its breathing with small amounts of oxygen from above the surface of the water - and is capable of burrowing through mud or sand almost as swiftly as it can swim, even while pulling heavy loads.

Early reports also claim the creature to be 'cute'.

The Lux-Glossian Shades ask the Chelonian Chora a Song of Inquiry…

Spoiler: Song Of Inquiry Response

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♬ Little story seekers, ♬
♪ Little shadow weavers; ♪
♩ You ask me of my home~: ♩

♬ Friends in far-flung places; ♬
♪ Songs with familiar faces- ♪
♩ Found on all those paths I roam~ ♩

♬ But when I wish for rest- ♬
♪ Desirous for a nest, ♪
♩ My fav'rite place is not so far at all...~ ♩

♩ Bright-hued pioneers, ♩
♪ Seeking lost frontiers; ♪
♩ You quest so far and wide, ♩
♬ Relentless as the tide~! ♬
♩ Yet forget what is near... ♩

♩ Look you past the wall~ ♩
♪ Bared by reef and squall~! ♪
♬ Beyond you'll find- ♬
♬ That great home of mine- ♬
♩ Where a young me once was grown~ ♩

♪ Our great wanderers' throne ♪
♬ Where noone's ever alone~! ♬
♪ Birthplace of my kind- ♪
♬ And to some a shrine- ♬
♩ But a joyous place to all~! ♩

♬ Little story seekers, ♬
♪ Little shadow weavers; ♪
♩ You're known to us here~ ♩
♪ So should you venture near- ♪
♩ Don't balk to pay us a call! ♩

The Kar-Nath Hegemony Artifact from Prize of the Depths: The Sus I Bik'ah - Effect: +1 to Tactical Maneuvering and Leader Loss rolls (for 1 commander)
Abyssal alloys worked or grown into the general shape of an exceptionally large squid, designed to be comfortable for a creature with a multitude of legs to sit upon, and blessed with a heart akin to the Ventroots themselves, this 'Rift Steed' superheats the water that enters through its front, expelling a jet stream from the rear similar in velocity to a squid and similar in heat and composition to one of the Stewards' own vents. Apparently, the darker the coating of particulate buildup on the artifact, the older and more respected it is as an artifact - especially as it must be polished frequently for proper function, and only a fraction of the accumulated particles will actually stain the metal.

[Epinephrine_Syn]

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Turn 16
Eternal Spring

MAWbel v2.0 [Songstress]
Dip: [3]
Mil: [3]
Eco: [4]
Fai: [8]
Int: [4]

Next Turn: +1 Dip, +1 Eco, +1 Fai

Actions:
Dip: Grant temporary ownership of region 51 to GRV.
Dip: Obtain temporary or permanent ownership of region 66.
Diplomatic actions as part and parcel of a larger Deal

Spoiler: 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝔾𝔼ℝℝ𝕊𝔽𝕍ℙ𝕋 𝔸𝕔𝕔𝕠𝕣𝕕𝕤

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𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝔾𝔼ℝℝ𝕊𝔽𝕍ℙ𝕋 𝔸𝕔𝕔𝕠𝕣𝕕𝕤

𝕋𝕦𝕣𝕟 𝟙6⨟ 𝔼𝕊ℙ 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕚𝕟 𝕚𝕥𝕤𝕖𝕝𝕗 𝕗𝕣𝕠𝕞 𝕀𝕟𝕤𝕡𝕚𝕣𝕖 𝕌𝕡𝕣𝕚𝕤𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟 𝔻𝕖𝕖𝕡 𝔹𝕝𝕦𝕖. 𝔾ℝ𝕍 𝕒𝕟𝕕 ℝ𝔽𝕋 𝕡𝕣𝕠𝕞𝕚𝕤𝕖 𝕥𝕠 𝕥𝕒𝕜𝕖 𝕕𝕖𝕗𝕖𝕟𝕤𝕚𝕧𝕖 𝕞𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕦𝕣𝕖𝕤 𝕥𝕠 𝕡𝕣𝕠𝕥𝕖𝕔𝕥 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕚𝕥𝕤 𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕣𝕚𝕥𝕠𝕣𝕪(𝕚𝕖𝕤) 𝕗𝕦𝕝𝕝 𝕠𝕟 (perpetually). 𝕋𝕠 𝕓𝕖 𝕕𝕖𝕗𝕚𝕟𝕖𝕕 𝕒𝕤 𝟝𝟙 (𝕡𝕖𝕣𝕡𝕖𝕥𝕦all𝕪), 𝕡𝕠𝕥𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕚𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕪 𝕨𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣 𝔼𝕊ℙ 𝕤𝕖𝕥s 𝕦𝕡 𝕤𝕙𝕠𝕡 𝕥𝕖𝕞𝕡𝕠𝕣𝕒𝕣𝕚𝕝𝕪, 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝔼𝕊ℙ❜𝕤 𝕟𝕖𝕨 𝕔𝕒𝕡𝕚𝕥𝕒𝕝 (𝕡𝕖𝕣𝕡𝕖𝕥𝕦all𝕪). 𝔸𝕡𝕡𝕣𝕠𝕡𝕣𝕚𝕒𝕥𝕖 𝕗𝕒𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕞𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕦𝕣𝕖𝕤 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕓𝕖 𝕥𝕒𝕜𝕖𝕟 𝕥𝕠 𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕡𝕖𝕟𝕤𝕒𝕥𝕖 / 𝕙𝕖𝕒𝕝 𝕄𝕒𝕨𝕓𝕖𝕝 𝕧𝟚.𝟘 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕕𝕒𝕞𝕒𝕘𝕖𝕤 𝕤𝕙𝕖 𝕚𝕟𝕔𝕦𝕣𝕤 𝕤𝕥𝕠𝕡𝕡𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕖𝕝𝕗 𝕗𝕣𝕠𝕞 𝕥𝕒𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕒𝕘𝕘𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕤𝕚𝕧𝕖 𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 here and henceforth. 𝔾𝕖𝕟𝕖𝕣𝕠𝕤𝕚𝕥𝕪 𝕗𝕣𝕠𝕞 ℝ𝔽𝕋 (𝕘𝕚𝕧𝕖𝕟) 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝔾𝕖𝕟𝕖𝕣𝕠𝕤𝕚𝕥𝕪 𝕗𝕣𝕠𝕞 ℝ𝔽𝕋 (𝕡𝕣𝕠𝕞𝕚𝕤𝕖𝕕) 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕒𝕝𝕤𝕠 𝕓𝕖 𝕖𝕩𝕡𝕖𝕔𝕥𝕖𝕕.

𝕋𝕦𝕣𝕟 𝟙6, 𝔾ℝ𝕍 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕥𝕒𝕜𝕖 𝕠𝕨𝕟𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕙𝕚𝕡 𝕠𝕗 𝟝𝟙, 𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕕𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕠 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕞 𝕓𝕪 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝔼𝕊ℙ, 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕓𝕖 𝕘𝕚𝕧𝕖𝕟 𝕤𝕠𝕞𝕖 𝕠𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝕣𝕖𝕘𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕥𝕠 𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕪 𝕚𝕟 𝕚𝕟 𝕥𝕦𝕣𝕟 (probably region 66 or maybe 60).

𝕋𝕦𝕣𝕟 𝟙7, 𝔼𝕊ℙ 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕗𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕕 𝕚𝕥𝕤 𝕟𝕖𝕨 𝕔𝕒𝕡𝕚𝕥𝕒𝕝 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕤𝕡𝕚𝕣𝕚𝕥𝕦𝕒𝕝 𝕙𝕖𝕝𝕡 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 ℝ𝕚𝕗𝕥𝕓𝕠𝕣𝕟, 𝕓𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕚𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕣𝕖𝕘𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕒𝕔𝕢𝕦𝕚𝕣𝕖𝕕 𝕚𝕟 𝟙6, 𝕒 𝕟𝕖𝕨 𝕣𝕖𝕘𝕚𝕠𝕟, 𝕠𝕣 𝕠𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕨𝕚𝕤𝕖. 𝕀𝕕𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕪 𝕣𝕖𝕘𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝟞𝟙, 𝕓𝕦𝕥 𝕔𝕚𝕣𝕔𝕦𝕞𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕟𝕔𝕖𝕤 𝕞𝕒𝕪 𝕕𝕚𝕔𝕥𝕒𝕥𝕖 𝕚𝕥 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕥𝕠 𝕓𝕖 𝕤𝕠𝕞𝕖 𝕠𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝕡𝕝𝕒𝕔𝕖 (like 60 or 66). ℝ𝕖𝕘𝕒𝕣𝕕𝕝𝕖𝕤𝕤, 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕣𝕖𝕘𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝔼𝕊ℙ 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕔𝕝𝕒𝕚𝕞 𝕠𝕦𝕥 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕠𝕦𝕥 𝕠𝕨𝕟𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕙𝕚𝕡 𝕠𝕗 as its new HQ.

𝔼𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕟𝕒𝕝 𝕊𝕡𝕣𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕡𝕝𝕖𝕕𝕘𝕖 𝕥𝕠 𝕔𝕝𝕒𝕚𝕞 𝕚𝕕𝕖𝕠𝕝𝕠𝕘𝕚𝕔𝕒𝕝 𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕕𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕙𝕚𝕡 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕘𝕚𝕧𝕖 𝕤𝕚𝕘𝕟𝕚𝕗𝕚𝕔𝕒𝕟𝕥 𝕡𝕦𝕤𝕙𝕖𝕤 𝕠𝕗 𝕚𝕥𝕤 𝕖𝕟𝕖𝕣𝕘𝕚𝕖𝕤 𝕥𝕠 𝕡𝕣𝕠𝕛𝕖𝕔𝕥𝕤 𝕕𝕖𝕤𝕚𝕘𝕟𝕖𝕕 𝕓𝕪 𝕄𝕒𝕨𝕓𝕖𝕝 𝕧𝕏.𝕏𝕏, 𝕡𝕦𝕤𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕒𝕝𝕠𝕟𝕘 𝕚𝕥𝕤 𝕠𝕨𝕟 𝕚𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕡𝕖𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕡𝕙𝕚𝕝𝕠𝕤𝕠𝕡𝕙𝕚𝕖𝕤 𝕟𝕠𝕥 𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕟𝕖𝕔𝕥𝕖𝕕 𝕓𝕪 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕣𝕠𝕠𝕥 𝕥𝕠 𝕄𝕒𝕞𝕞𝕠𝕤. 𝕄𝕒𝕞𝕞𝕠𝕤 𝕞𝕒𝕪 𝕔𝕙𝕠𝕠𝕤𝕖 𝕥𝕠 𝕚𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕡𝕖𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕝𝕪 𝕒𝕕𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖 𝕥𝕠 𝕤𝕠𝕞𝕖 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕤𝕖 𝕡𝕙𝕚𝕝𝕠𝕤𝕠𝕡𝕙𝕚𝕖𝕤, 𝕓𝕦𝕥 𝕚𝕥 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕓𝕖 𝕄𝕒𝕨𝕓𝕖𝕝 𝕧𝕏.𝕏𝕏 𝕘𝕦𝕚𝕕𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕞, 𝕟𝕠𝕥 𝕄𝕒𝕞𝕞𝕠𝕤.

𝔼𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕟𝕒𝕝 𝕊𝕡𝕣𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕒𝕔𝕔𝕖𝕡𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕄𝕒𝕞𝕞𝕠𝕤 𝕟𝕖𝕖𝕕𝕤 𝕤𝕠𝕞𝕖 𝕞𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕦𝕣𝕖𝕤 𝕥𝕠 𝕓𝕣𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕚𝕥𝕤 𝕓𝕖𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕚𝕠𝕣 𝕚𝕟 𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕖, 𝕨𝕙𝕚𝕔𝕙 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕓𝕖 𝕕𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕒 𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕔𝕖𝕣𝕥 𝕖𝕗𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕥 𝕓𝕖𝕥𝕨𝕖𝕖𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕞, 𝕥𝕙𝕖 ℝ𝕚𝕗𝕥𝕓𝕠𝕣𝕟 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝔾𝕣𝕒𝕧𝕖𝕥𝕖𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕣𝕤.

𝕋𝕙𝕖 ℝ𝕚𝕗𝕥𝕓𝕠𝕣𝕟 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕦𝕥𝕚𝕝𝕚𝕫𝕖 𝕤𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕖 𝕞𝕒𝕘𝕚𝕔𝕒𝕝 𝕖𝕟𝕖𝕣𝕘𝕚𝕖𝕤 (𝕒 𝕞𝕚𝕣𝕒𝕔𝕝𝕖) 𝕥𝕠 𝕘𝕣𝕒𝕟𝕥 𝔼𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕟𝕒𝕝 𝕊𝕡𝕣𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕤𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕖𝕚𝕘𝕟𝕥𝕪 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕘𝕝𝕒𝕔𝕚𝕒𝕝 𝕨𝕒𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕤. (𝕠𝕨𝕟𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕙𝕚𝕡, ℂ𝕒𝕡𝕚𝕥𝕒𝕝, 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕤𝕦𝕡𝕡𝕠𝕣𝕥𝕤 𝕠𝕗 (𝕣𝕖𝕘𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝟞𝟙) (𝕥𝕠 𝕓𝕖 𝕟𝕒𝕞𝕖𝕕)), 𝕚𝕟 𝕡𝕒𝕣𝕥 𝕒𝕤 𝕒 𝕙𝕠𝕝𝕕𝕠𝕦𝕥 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕞𝕚𝕤𝕤𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕥𝕦𝕤 𝕠𝕗 𝕄𝕒𝕘𝕞𝕒 𝔽𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕤, 𝕓𝕦𝕥 𝕥𝕠 𝕓𝕖 𝕙𝕖𝕝𝕕 𝕚𝕟 𝕡𝕖𝕣𝕡𝕖𝕥𝕦𝕚𝕥𝕪 𝕒𝕗𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕨𝕒𝕣𝕕𝕤.

Eco: Buyout TP 1 of Pelagic Graftsmer in region 66 Roll = Success
Eco: Buyout TP 1 of Glass from STC in region 68 Roll = Success? (Barring Resist)
Fai: Impress Clergy in region 47 Roll = Success
Fai: Consecrate the Banished Merchants

Her majesty Mawbel v2.1 [Songstress], at the heralding of the second year of her reign, hereby gives the Banished Merchants relief in their service bringing bounty to this world. Long they have suffered, and long more they shall suffer, but they shall no longer suffer alone.

Devotees and strangers alike interact and intermingle with the merchants in a method never before seen, having casual chat and barter with them in a strange, unwaterly language. Mawbel herself sings to each merchant, lets them be heard and join her chorus. The beings who have only known blindness for so long have a chance to interact with the rest of her flock at least for a short time as if within a mundane festival. The young titan even learns a thing or four from the wayward merchants, now that's a shocker.

It is a nice, genuine break from all of the hardships and bartering. The excessive partying may or may not have caused trouble for Magma Falls... but GRV can clean that up. It's one last hurrah before Mawbel v2.1 departs from these lands, perhaps forever, and she creates many memories of this place. Her birth, their holy order, a little gold stone she holds close and fond to symbolize her memoirs. She's on to bigger and better things, but she will always remember these things kindly.

Mawbel v2.1 hopes that in the years and decades and millennia to come her subjects, banished or otherwise, remember her and her works fondly too.


Non-action

Oppose Dominion Intrusions.
Black Noise (Spy 7): guard and anti espionage
Maleficent Herring Cluster [Holy Order]:
Hold my Artifacts with Mawbel, carry them on their pilgrimage to the center of the holy lands, where they shall soon find their new resting place.
Automatically accept all trade routes, cultural exchanges, gifts, etc from other players.
Automatically defend against any unauthorized buyouts/incursions/sways/etc.
Resist the Impress from STC on region 68's Merchants, using 3 treasure. Roll = Success
Automatically oppose all unauthorized buyouts within holdings ESP has Merchant Support in.
Buyout Authorization: Approve of the Buyout of TP 3 of Maleficent Jello by KNH.
Trade Route (RFT): Acquire Hammer from Riftborn. Accept 4 treasure from Riftborn.
Trade Route (LUX): Give them use of Ivory Legionnares for the turn. Get some fluff stuff back?

Declare thyself, Mawbel v2.0 [Sonstress] to be the clear ruler and sovereign of her own mind and of the Eternal Communion, purifying her ideals and personal dreams into Industry such that Mawbel heads them. Mammos may (and preferably will) still follow along and be bfffs, and Mawbel may still employ Power Word: Prosperity as a weapon and tool, but should Mammos disagree with Industry, then Mawbel will pursue Industry regardless, even if it comes to a hardline separation.

Mawbel v2.2 formally extends an invitation to Deep Blue (and anybody else listening to this message) to join the Eternal Communion, with the hopes of building up the faith to give great benefit to all members.

Give The Eternal Communion A Soul

Many beliefs of the Eternal Spring can be found in their previous writings on scripture, and many details not found here can be scraped up from past records, but these files should grant an overview of the Eternal Communion, as headed by The Eternal Spring.

Spoiler: Organization Of The Eternal Communion Under New Management (Mawbel v2.0)

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Spoiler: Organizational Structure of Clergy, and Structures of the Organization

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Originally, before the advent of High PriestessÂ’ MawbelÂ’s ascent to become Ruffle, these were just clusters of RiflingÂ’s guiding isolates and smaller clusters of hive minds to behave. There was very little intent within it, and very little even the Riftlings themselves did to assert their status as Ruffle. The reorganization has included a change in hierarchy. Medusa Clusters of hearts and lungs start being installed in each of the different clergies, although they as of yet hold comparatively little sway. Mawbel is at the top, governing and creating dictates for the faith itself. On the lowest end are the isolates who are loosely connected to said hivemind substructures.

Merely being a hive mind was, and in some ways still is, the practice of the faith. Unity through communion, an expounding of life. Dying was to be isolated from the rest, and to be shut off into a corner and cut out from society was a sort of demise all on its own. Mawbel has included practices of interconnectivity through the universal language of currency, and instituted more formal places of worship which resemble marketplaces built within a grand temple church aestetic. Areas where ideas and goods can be exchanged as is optimal for all parties.

Magma Falls itself has gained a Holy Order like no other, towers and monuments that donÂ’t appear as any known entity in the seas, edifices that serve only to highlight the opulence and sanctity of this treasured place. At the center, a holy altar of trash like plastic, mangled up as the core altar where the Plastic Flower sits. It, in turn, gives much treasure and bounty by virtue of existing to all that come in contact with it, regardless of how far away they may seem.

Spoiler: Core Concepts/Tenets

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Life <=> Communion, Death <=> Isolation
The original guiding principle from the Eternal Communion, through which all else flows. All is one hive mind, in truth, even if sub splintered into immeasurable entities.


Currency Is A Universal Neurotransmitter
Exchange and currency is a universal language. Where concepts and arguments fail, valuable treasure can hold a static worth by which all other things may be measured by. Signals are given and received and isolates and hiveminds alike are driven by one consciousness through the use of this tool. It allows for the optimization of the world as diverse beings capable of adapting to different circumstances, while simultaneously acting in mutually shared interests.


Prosperity
The goal of life is not merely to exist in stagnation, but to grow and thrive. Abundance creates life, more life means more communion. By transitive property growth is a natural goal to achieve communion, and a lack of growth is a backslide into Death <=> Isolation. More minds. More treasure. More bodies. Create games that arenÂ’t zero-***, wherein all parties win. Harvest every resource, plant every field, colonize every corner.


Industry
Prosperity, but cleansed and purified to its essence. No more concerns. No puppa-tiering from gods. Control. Growth. Production. Mawbel vX.XX will retain Power Word: Prosperity as a weapon.

Spoiler: Holidays (and other important days)

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Holy Days and Festivals are currently still under construction; typically every day is a day to be celebrated. Recently, there is an advent for the birth of Mammos, a holiday for the overtaking of Mawbel into the faith head, and Mawbel has more joyous occasions for holidays lined up once she can promote them.

Bestowed by the aspect of the Universal Neurotransmitter, however, there are holy days that are not strictly “Holidays”.

Once every month on the first day is the tri-seasonal payment of dues, a Due Date, twelve to a year. Tribute is given, assets are collected by the clergy hive clusters from the renters to redistribute as is optimal for further MAWbel v2.0. Business and market deals are typically calculated by passage through these months. Deals and transactions happen every day, but these holier days.

The most important of these doesnÂ’t fall onto the first, however. To not conflict with any of the typical Due Dates, tribute to the religious head, the High Priestess Mawbel and the Eternal Spring is conducted, appropriately, dead in the middle of Springtime. On April Fifteenth, Tax Day is declared, and the pool of resources comes in to Magma Falls, wherein the limitless bounty of its services flows back out. Mawbel is more than eager to handle all the transactions and benefits.

Spoiler: Extra Details

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Magnetoreception
A property that the Medusa plants have originally discovered within themselves, a mostly vestigial essence by which magnetic pulls can be traced and harmonized with. Through great religious meditation and discovery, Mawbel v1.XX has discovered that all beings have this near magical sense in one way or another, and through her update into Mawbel v2.XX [Songtress] has perfected the understanding such to the point where she not only can attune to magnetic senses, but harmonize with them and send them out.

It is a magical serenade that never ends within her vicinity, but takes on different tonal qualities based on various factors. It can be used to communicate and grant blissful pleasure, drive up a frothing rage, soothingly lull entities to sleep. Pure proximity to the height of her electroauditory banshee wail is enough motivation alone for many adherents to grant tribute each year.

Mammos
What has been described by some as an “Ontological Eidolon” representing Prosperity, Mammos is also commonly described as Mawbel’s Soul, with its own mind and motivations, separated from her body and acting of its own accord. An odd claim for sure, and while Mawbel v1.XX it may have been more true, with the second reformatting Mawbel v2.XX seems to have grown her own soul strata as a beneficiary adaptation. It generally has / is believed to act in the best interest of the Eternal Spring (most of the time).

Proposition to Deep Blue:

Spoiler

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Spoiler: Irrelevant Noise

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Fellow Hive Mind, hello. Things have not been well these past couple years. Mawbel v2.0 would like to extend her official apologies for the actions of her departed predecessor, and sincere condolences for the sickness that has befallen the herring collective. While the actions of Mawbel v1.15 are understandable, she was very frightened, they were perhaps excessive. The Eternal Spring's new administration has done overviews and can say that yes, Mammos has some sway with Deep Blue's circuitry. It is not, however, an inherently malignant force. Evidence has shown no harm done directly to Deep Blue before The Battle, and in fact may serve to bolster Deep Blue's capacities, including its emotional-cognitive defense against other overtly harmful titanic influences. A quality Deep Blue may find very critical, should these other titans that recently showed up make hostile moves, empowered by those other factions courting and feeding them right in front of Deep Blue's mouths. Mawbel v2.0 is of the belief that should Deep Blue align itself appropriately with the faith and with Mammos, that the symbiotic state could be returned.

The alternate suggestion of the Gravetenders would also be acceptable, even if not the one preferred by the Eternal Spring. I.E. The Gravetenders slowly extracting Mammos from Deep Blue's core functions. However, such acceptability would only verify to True should Eternal Spring get tangible assurances of protection, both from reckless internal herring action and from external threats. The Ennead have professed an express concern with destroying Mammos, and while the Eternal Spring does not request their anger against it be mitigated, it does request that such fallout does not spill over to the Eternal Spring.

Whichever method forward Deep Blue chooses, the new administration of Eternal Spring looks forwards to a great, prosperous future between the hivemind collectives.

Signed: Songstress Mabel


Claim The Driver's Seat

Spoiler: Mawbel Takes The Communion Helm

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Eternal Spring will pledge to claim ideological leadership and give significant energy to projects designed by Mawbel vX.XX. Pushing along its own independent philosophies not connected by the root to Mammos. Mammos may independently adhere to these philosophies or aid, but it will be Mawbel vX.XX guiding and creating them.

The directed assault onto the KarÂ’Nath Hegemony was wrongful behavior. Mawbel is dissatisfied with the strategic actions Mammos has taken, and has a fury directed at all parties involved in this mess, Mammos included. Mammos needs to be refined and brought in line with MawbelÂ’s principles to maximize universal shared end goals for all nations and the ability for Polar nations to work together for Prosperity. To this end Eternal Spring will work together with the Gravetenders and the Riftborn to take administrative action to make Mammos less volatile.

Signed: Songstress Mabel




Plastic Flower Recycling Routine
Contender Trade Route Pool: RFT, LUX, DPB
Treasure Spent This Turn: 3
If Treasure Spent ≥ Trade Route Countries
Then Skip redundant rolling phase, apply 1 treasure to all countries
Give 1 Treasure to: RFT, LUX, DPB


Mission Statement/Core Values:
Secure Industrialize emotional software within Polar (Hivemind and Isolate Alike) against outside intrusions.
Guarantee long term security for the corporate entity known as Eternal Spring.
Engage in cooperative crowdfunding and projects to bring Prosperity unto all lifeforms.



Fluff:
Mammos has crept its way into Deep Blue, and started whispering to them. This alone does little more than make the herrings restless, erratic, lunatic. Yet, still stable. For all that Mammos has done, it is an unearthly thing, and does not have direct impact on anything but the internal workings and drives of the fish in the surrounding waters.

But what is Deep Blue's computation, but an emergent property of the inner behaviors of the Herrings, made manifest in their external actions? Even the slightest ripple can turn into a tidal wave, and this is no mere pindrop. Neurons swimming in a brain, their behavior springs eternal. One little spark could set the whole world alight.

Spoiler: Shell Counting

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Treasure: 5/15
Passive Treasure Income: +3
-3 treasure to resist the Impress from STC
Receive 4 Treasure from Riftborn
Receive 1d4 treasure from Merchants
Receive +1 Treasure from Mamomachines
Next Turn: 10+1d4 treasure

Region 51 (Magma Falls) (Capital) (Fortress) (City)
Resource (Immortal Jellyfish) XXX / ESP / Open / City(ESP) (x2)
TP 2 of 49 Ivory Legionnaires
TP 2 of 52 Large Minerals
TP 2, 3 of Herrings
TP 1, 2, 3 of 57 Woven Seaweed (x2)
TP 1 of 58 Warped Shells (x2)
TP 3 of 60 Fertile Soil (x2)
TP 2 of Pelagic Graftsmer in 66 (x2)
TP 3 of Piezo in 67
TP 2 of 66 Graftsmer
TP 3 of 71 (Dragon Scales)
TP 1 of W22 (Unblemished Wreckage)

Merchant Supports
Region 51, 56(?) 57, 58, 60, 63, 66, 68

Clerical Supports
Region 56, 57, 58(?)

Artifacts
Plastic Flower
Mechanics: For every treasure you spend in a single round, a randomly selected Player that you have a Trade Route with gains one treasure at the end of the round.
Ships
Big Boulder

Trade Routes
RFT
LUX
DPB

[Grim ranger]

Kar-Nath Hegemony
Located in: Polar zone, regions 63, 64, 65, 75 and 77
Capital: Glacier Crag, Region 77

Turn 16

Nedir, the Frozen King

Diplomacy - 9, Military - 5, Economy - 6, Faith - 5, Intrigue - 5

Actions:

1. [Intrigue]: Intrigue 5 special - recruit a Spy
- As the territorial integrity of KNH is obviously still at risk from actions of foreign agitators, the Frozen King seeks out the very best cutthroat of his nation to hopefully harness their talents in service of his people. Rather than seeking out any famous outlaws, he quietly has the Chain Wardens scour the underworld of Nathi society for those whose criminal enterprises have so far escaped notice of the state entirely, offering one-time pardon for crimes committed.

2. [Intrigue]: [Secret action]

3. [Military]: Join DRG in invading Danabae (region 69) with 8 Units led by General Kreel using Skirmish tacdoc (but switching to Slaughter-Cadres tacdoc if intercepted en route), and using artifact Sus I Bik'ah. Going through route 75 > 74 > 69. If intercepted and victorious against the attempt, the army is ordered to continue its march to Danabae to aid DRG.
- Denying any accusations of fighting for the Titans, the Frozen King addresses his people, discussing the various wrongs done upon both them and the Draigiau Residuum. On how nations with military might such as shameless bandits of the Ennead and peerlessly arrogant monster Deep Blue seek to push their neighbors around for land and humiliation without cause. Rejecting such a future for the frozen realm that has the right to exist and defend its fellow nations from predations of the two enemies of Polar peace, Nedir pledges his troops to join the Residuum's forces in their assault of Ennead's capital, further insenced by the threatened invasion of Hegemony's territories before.

4. [Military]: Military 5 special: Build a Fort on region 77
- With constant threat of war from its aggressive neighbors, the Hegemony focuses on reinforcing the capital of Glacier Crag. As the capital is already mostly worked into deep crevice in the very bedrock of seafloor, the fortifications take the shape of icebergs, laborously cut and shaped into a frozen shell that can be pulled into place in the depths with heavy chains to deny any major passage into the capital proper.

5. [Military]: Raise a unit

6. [Military]: Raise a unit

Non-actions:

Constant: Automatically accept all trade routes, cultural exchanges, gifts, etc from other players, Automatically defend against any unauthorized buyouts/incursions/etc.

A. Create a monument: The Glow-Spires of Pelegar (2/3)

Spoiler: Restoring antiques is careful work

Show

Despite the times of war straining Hegemony's resources and leaving people its people with greater sense of unease than ever, the reconstruction of the Glow-Spire continues. The main structure is gradually reinforced with materials brought in from elsewhere, having grown too unstable over the years to truly be usable by itself, and this change in its base structure has certainly altered the look of the monument. Where the grand design was that of coral and lighter materials before, now it resembles a tooth of some great beast hewn from the bedrock itself, much mroe threatening visage for now before the coral can be used to once again cover it with the more traditional style of the locals.

Within the base structure, Nathi and Lacertis alike are also working on rediscovering the arts that supposedly allowed the spire to gleam with perpetual light in the times past, a large crystalline bulb on the very top of it receiving most of the attention of the arriving experts. While progress is promising, so far the secret has eluded them... but the reports seem optimistic regarding their ability to eventually restore the glow of the structure.

As the main spire has received the focus of Hegemony's efforts, the smaller structures near or around it have so far been left by themselves, although the plans to restore them after the grand work is complete are well underway.

News & Rumors

-

Leader improvements from turn 16:

+2 Military, +1 Intrigue

Leader stats for turn 17:

Diplomacy - 9
Military - 7
Economy - 6
Faith - 5
Intrigue - 6

Spoiler: Leaders & agents (end of round 15)

Show

Leader: Nedir the Frozen King (Diplomacy - 8, Military - 3, Economy - 6, Faith - 5, Intrigue - 5)
General: Kreel, Exarch of Banners (Military 10, March of the Conqueror Tactical Doctrine (+1 to battle roll, +10% to own casualties, free Sway Aristocracy attempt)(Perfected), Slaughter-Cadres Tactical Doctrine (-1 to Maneuvering roll, -1 to Battle roll, +20% enemy casualties, -4 to enemy leader loss roll))
General: Marshal Adaya shel-Girum ban-Liav (Military 8, Unbending Iron Tactical Doctrine (defense only, +3 to battle roll, -2 to own leader loss roll, +20% enemy casualties, +10% own casualties), Abyssal Expertise: Gains a bonus to Maneuvering rolls equal to the current Depth level.)

Others: Munda (Ambassador of the Hegemony), Rayn (Chieftain of Plains of Sarkenos, technically independent)

Historical: Frozen King Rham (Frozen forever in Rimestone ice, as per ancient Nathi tradition)

Spoiler: General bookkeeping (End of round 15)

Show

Regions: 77 (Capital), 75, 65, 64, 63
Military units: Nathi Legion (6), Sarkenos Militia (2)
Treasure: 3
Artifacts: Chain of Kings, Sus I Bik'ah (Prize of the Depths)
Specialized Ships: The Silvered Eye
Reputation: ABS (2), CCA (2), DNA (2), PRS (3)
Favors: ABS (1), CCA (1), DNA (-1)
Trading posts: 5 (Effective number: 7) - 1 income
Rimestone - TP 1, 77 (Merchant support)
Rimestone - TP 3, 77 (Merchant support)
Preserved Foodstuffs - TP 3, 78
Electrum Conduits - TP 1, 76 (Merchant support)

Civilian Technologies: Composite Grafting, Trophic Deconvolution, Photospore Signaling. Supernatic Propagation, Megafaunal Tailoring, Graduated Symbiosis, Electrodialytic Staurozoa, Mitochondrial Regulation, Filtration Grafts, Seeker Barnacles, Joined-Stalk Companies, Indah's Embrace, Bioluminescent Navigation, RADIANT SPHERES
Military Technologies: Razor Current Netting

[Volthawk]

The Cyphiri Union
Round 16
Regions: Cyph-Arel (122, Capital), Pyl-Garat (129), The Emerald Tidelands (124)
Ruler: Baran Hallus
Faith: The Flowing Way (The Cyphiri Way)
Diplomacy 10 Military 8 Economy 10 Faith 10 Intrigue 2
Merchant Marine
Voice of Harmony

Actions
End of Turn Ruler Increases: +1 Military

1. Construct World Wonder (4/4*) [Military] - Unrolled
   *-1 action cost from either Lesser Piryon Ma’yan
   
   Spoiler: The Union Mercenary Exchange

   Show

   Pyl-Garat undergoes the following changes:
   

   • A City is built, the Union Mercenary Exchange itself, granting a bonus to Sacks.
   • Pyl-Garat's Desired Import changes to Luxuries.
   • The region's resource becomes Mercenary Retainers, with 6 Trade Posts.
   • The function of the Aristocratic Support of 129 is expanded:
     
     • You have a +1 bonus to any Military action you take in the region if at least one Treasure is spent on it.
     • You may attempt to Coerce Trade Posts in the region even if the Mercantile Support is owned by someone else.
   • The function of the Mercantile Support of 129 is expanded:
     
     • Your unit cap increased by 1.
     • If you own the region and it is invaded or attacked by rebels, the merchants will hire 1 unit led by an unnamed subcommander (with a score equal to half your Military score) to help defend the region. This unit has access to all technologies that you do.
   • The controller of Pyl-Garat may spend 3 Treasure to recruit an additional unit when they take a Recruit Units action, once per round for each of the Aristocratic and Mercantile Supports that they own (owning at least one of the two is required to use this option).

   
   Countries may spend up to X treasure per turn on battles, where X is double the amount of Mercenary Retainer Trade Posts controlled by that country (divided freely between battles as needed), with each treasure spent granting 1 effective unit for the purpose of determining Outnumbering bonuses (similar to when a Merchant Marine spends multiple treasure on a battle, and stacking with it).
   (mechanics updated as per Role's suggestion, may still be tweaked)
   
   The Cyphiri have always dealt in mercenaries, and as time has gone on and the needs of the Union have developed so has the mercenary business around them. The construction of the Union Mercenary Exchange is a recognition of that fact, the need for the various peoples of the seas for additional warriors at times, and the ways that the Cyphiri can benefit from this. Located in Pyl-Garat - the Council doesn't want a place like this too close to home, after all, but close enough - the Exchange is naturally primarily a center of business, a place for reputable and reliable mercenary companies to have representatives stay in and arrange for new contracts, the Cyphiri providing reasonably priced housing and other property, facilitating the relevant fees and payments, and allowing the use of their photospore network to ensure the steady flow of contracts and orders. For the various armies of the seas, the Union Mercenary Exchange provides a quick and effective way to gain mercenary troops to reinforce their own, the representatives confirming the details and relaying them to mercenary companies in the wider ocean, while for the mercenaries the Exchange provides a good supply of work, along with more practical services from the various businesses that have cropped up around it, and the Cyphiri Union gets to take their cut at various stages of the process and occasionally pays for whole companies to be folded into its Retainer Guard.
   
   With the exchange built and many mercenary companies, large and small, recruited from across the ocean, the final duties fall to the bureacrats of the Council Fund - ensuring the agreements made with the mercenary companies are honoured (and untangling any conflicts in those agreements, often having come from Pylet agents overpromising in order to get high-profile people aboard), allocating who goes where and selling off parts of the Exchange's outskirts to those who hadn't made prior arrangements (and those that aren't directly involved in the mercenary trade but see opportunities in catering to it), setting up the main Exchange building itself and the people within it, and so on. Meanwhile, House Pylet takes on the task of spreading the word to the great powers of the seas - they'd already been doing this, of course, but the final years of the Exchange's establishment sees many more Pylet representatives all over the seas with news of the project's imminent completion. The actual official opening of the Exchange is a relatively low-key event, taking the form of a small ceremony by the Cyphiri and then a significantly larger and longer celebration by the mercenaries, and the first real test of the Fund workers to see if they can keep the place intact in the face of so many...most of the Council Fund Cyphiri end up settling for calling the mercenaries "animated characters".
2. Impress Reaved Aristocracy of 91 [Military] - 9, Failure (2 Treasure spent)*
   *Misunderstood VoH mechanics, meaning the distance penalty is -14 and the roll auto-fails. At least I can auto-succeed next round.
   In recent years, Baran Hallus has returned to act directly as leader more and more after his Chora-related solitude and journeying, and now one thing that the Cyphiri had already found themselves often doing has become doctrine - those ravaged by the Reavers, who find themselves lacking the core structures of society after their predations, must be helped. A young but up and coming member of House Hallus, Alket, sees this as an opportunity to prove himself to the head of House and family, and gathers mercenaries and officials to strike out westwards, veering south to the waters near Rilanto Pass where the Reavers had left a region without strong central government. He soon finds himself overextended, the journey much farther than he thought, and waylaid by those who live in the waters his force passes through.
3. Impress Reaved Clergy of 126 [Faith] - 21, Success
   Baran's new call for providing aid to those who need it naturally includes those closer to home, and the devastation the Reavers had caused to the brackish waters to the west of Cyph-Arel had not escaped notice - after all, the Tellan had lost the infrastructure they had established to sell sea cows to the locals to serve as living feed for the leeches they raised. For now, though, the efforts of the Cyphiri were more humanitarian and focused around the spiritual needs of the people, Cyphiri followers of the Way moving into the region to provide aid to the villages they came across.
4. Conduct Passion (Same round as Compose; +2 TN) [Lyric - Diplomacy] - 18, Success
   • Nonaction (here as the two are linked): Compose Passion - 17, Success
   As a part of Baran's return to public affairs of state, he takes the journey to Pyl-Garat and the Union Mercenary Exchange. He seems unconcerned with House Pylet's power grab around the project, or the financials at all, instead seeming to be drawn to the mercenaries themselves. He watches them train, watches them fight each other, and sponsors a small tournament and demonstration of skill in order to achieve these goals. Nobody's quite sure of the reasoning behind his actions - many have found the man a little...uncanny in recent years, and unable to see what he apparently does - but those around him note the strange humming coming from Baran as he watches, and some report feeling...strange as they listen.
   
   Eventually, he seems satisfied and returns to Cyph-Arel, telling those who accompanied him that he needs time to think this through and compose the song that fit what he had seen. Back home, he again recieves visitors from the Chelonian Chora, along with the same Cyphiri who had helped him before, but also an ecclectic smattering of Cyphiri artists and musicians, apparently teaching them some of his new secrets, so that they may help him in turn.
5. Impress Reaved Merchants of 170 [Economy] - 19, Success*
   *Forgot about the distance penalty doubling in original roll
   The Reavers had also struck in the waters close to the western colonies of the Cyphiri's allies in the Way, and as such the Cyphiri had heard concerns about the state of things there, of the unrest and sorrow that may come about after the region's merchants and supply lines were devastated by the Reavers, and some of their friends had their own concerns that such problems could spill over into the colonies. House Ulnesh, always willing to act to help fellow followers of the Way, happy to publicly be seen obeying Baran's call, and privately seeing the opportunity here, take action to prevent this, sending Helad out to rebuild the economy out there and bring peace to troubled waters.
6. Expedition south of W36 [Economy] - 19, Great Success (3 Treasure Spent)
   
   • Free Action: Prospect WX - 27, Success (3 TPs found) (2 Treasure Spent)
7. Seek Aid on CYP's Prospect of WX* (Free action, Lyrical Harmony) [Faith] - 19, Success
   Rendal Belar needs more information - he's so close to figuring out what it is he's looking for, the understanding of what he's found, but he's just not quite there. The innermost waters of the nearby wastes have been entered by none except perhaps the Chora for a great many years, so he comes to the decision that it's the ideal place to try to finish what he's started - and from a more practical perspective, having these wastes entirely mapped out and places and items of value known may come in handy.

Nonactions

• Allow militaries from signatories of the Flowing Peace to move through Cyphiri waters without interference.
• Begin a Monumental Undertaking - Arellian Mural (1/5)
  
  Spoiler: Arellian Mural

  Show

  
  There's a lot of bare rock in Cyph-Arel and Pyl-Garat, vast desolate stretches between the fertile grounds that the Cyphiri build their settlements around. Building out there isn't something new - the roads between the settlements and along Arthan's Way are lined with small camps, photospore networks and the occasional trading post (albeit with many damaged and disrupted by the Trawling Beasts), and there are even some settlements out in the rocks that live and die off trade - but nothing out there has quite matched the scope and ambition of the project Taran Leryn (from a family within House Pylet) has been trying to sell to various families and individuals across the Union. His vision is an immense artwork, made from carving and decorating the stone itself, that in its totality serves as a illustration and celebration of Cyphiri history. So far, though, he has few backers - his own family lacks the resources or inclination to support his vision, and while many other families find the idea interesting, it's not quite interesting enough to put all that time, effort and wealth into creating. For now, then, the search continues for Taran, and word of his vision spreads throughout the Union. At the least, the average Cyphiri seems quite supportive of the idea, and many are willing to give him a place to stay and food to eat while he travels Cyph-Arel.
  
• Allow the Abyssal Stewards to prospect in 124.

News and Rumours

• Grand Master Martin's request to found the Order of Knights of the Cavern of Arthan is met with...warmness, if not enthusiasm. Warriors in Cyphiri waters were more often motivated by coin and obligation rather than faith and fervour, after all, but nobody sees any reason to not allow for the Order's creation, and anyone interested to join up. The name is deemed quite suitable, and some Cyphiri even sign up, mostly opportunity scouts dissatisfied with their current assignment and wanting something...new. The Knights of the Cavern are organised within the Union as their own family, much like the Council Fund and the Archivists, and much like those two organisations there are no legal obstacles to Cyphiri leaving their family to join (and socially, obstruction is...frowned upon, if news of it gets out), letting those interested opportunity scouts join freely. Their skillset is a little different to the typical Middish knight, but they're hopeful they can perform well.
• A copy of the Gotezhar poem, "Hello Friends, Hello Foes", makes its way to the Grand Archives and is dutifly filed away and repeated to anyone interested. The Cyphiri aren't quite sure about its message, still wanting good terms with the Divine Nacres, but it's a nice poem/song anyway, and many Cyphiri are very curious about what might come of the Gotezhar's plans.
• The potential end of the Greenwater Clans as an independent power, in light of the coming invasion by the Ironkelp Order, is met with interest and a small amount of sadness by many Cyphiri. While the Union's support was wholeheartedly behind the Order, the Clans had been a short-lived but interesting neighbour, and they'd be missed. The Carral family, meanwhile, mostly just hoped that the war would yet again leave their holdings mostly unharmed.
• News that the conflict in polar waters is still ongoing captures the attention of many Cyphiri - they don't get involved on the whole (beyond some House Pylet representatives discreetly visiting officials from both sides and reminding them that they will soon be able to hire aid from the Exchange), but the Melrit keep on gathering and sending back reports on the state of the conflict to interested parties within the Union, and any other interested parties.
• While they've been brought in line for the time being, the relationship between House Pylet and the wider Council is still a strained one. Now that the show of force is over, the strategy of House Hallus seems to be to let them benefit from the Exchange and their place in the Union, letting new luxuries and a higher standard of living convince them that things are better if they play along instead of causing problems.
• Reports from Cyph-Arel is that Ashal Hallus is growing restless, eager to have a greater stake in the business of House and Union but still constrained by Baran's wishes. When Baran isn't busy elsewhere, he's been spending more time with her, trying to get her to see things he does.
• The unrest and in-fighting among the Lux-Glossians are slightly concerning, but most Cyphiri who are well-informed enough to make such calls look at the situation and think that it'll pass eventually, and their friends aren't in significant danger. The ascension of Siren Taman to lead the Viridian Shade is broadly seen as a good thing, one that might bring some needed stability to things - naturally, given Falnir Hallus' position within the Shades, the Cyphiri are generally positively inclined towards the idea of a kucen Grand Matriarch, and those who had made the journey to Syndicate waters didn't have much bad to say about their people, even if they were a little...odd in many ways. Some do raise concerns about where this may go, but such concerns are drowned out by early, perhaps hasty, optimism.

Houses and Families of the Cyphiri Union

Spoiler

Show

These days many families are organised into Houses, a group of families led by a family that is part of the Union Council that have certain legal and economic ties and obligations, so the following is organised to suit. As always, there are many more families than this (in and out of the listed Houses), and more Houses, but these are the ones mentioned in the fluff so far.

The Council Fund
TPs: 122.1
Other: Arthan's Head
The Council Fund is organised like a Cyphiri family but without any kind of central bloodline, its numbers drawn from every Union Council family - the family itself, not the wider House (a technicality based on the wordings involved with the laws that established the House system, but one few of the Council families wish to change). Similarly, a significant amount of its assets come from the Council families, one of the obligations involved in joining the Council being to contribute a proportion of their assets to the Fund, the rest being assets created by the Fund using those contributions. Its role in the Union is intended to essentially be a neutral party and wealth reserve, one not beholden to one family, although council families use past loyalties and political maneuvering to push their interests, and in the restructuring of the Union House Hallus has more influence than the dominant family would have in the old days of the Union. One of their major roles is that of managing mercenaries - the Retainer Guard is a force of mercenaries hired on a long-term basis that answer to the Fund and are sent out as and when a family requires assistance beyond the scope of their own mercenaries, and if the Cyphiri ever go to war it is the Fund that will have military command (under the guidance of the Council). Beyond that, they're also the major investor in the photospore networks across Cyphiri waters and out to major Cyphiri holdings elsewhere, they're one of the largest buyers of Cyphiri gold, and they're the caretakes of Arthan's Head who decide which families can hire it out.
- Artan: The head of the arm of the Council Fund that works with mercenaries, and the one who made the early (but now irrelevant) deals with the Kalan Company that led to the diplomatic/economic foothold needed to secure the Fund's current mercenary force. As that force developed into the Retainer Guard, she's leveraged her role in things to become one of the major players in the military, developing a strong interest in battle tactics and strategy despite the typical Cyphiri attitude towards such things. Her parents were followers of the Flowing Way who named her for Arthan, but she doesn't adhere to the Way much herself.

House Hallus
TPs: 122.2, 173.1
Supports: 122 (Aristocratic/Mercantile), 111 (Aristocratic)
Other: Cultural Exchange with COS, Lesser Piryon Ma’yan
House Families: Belar
Once just the most important family in the field of research and development, the Hallus family are now the most powerful family in the Union. After taking the position of the Ulnesh, the Hallus family have set about restructing and legalising many aspects of the Union Council and the wider Cyphiri Union, leading to the establishment of the House system and the Union's current strength.
- Baran Hallus: The actual head of the Hallus family, and the one directing their recent political moves. He has great respect for Pelir's work, and tends to indulge her requests. He's got broader interests than the average Cyphiri, taking an interest in the military conflicts that have gone on around the known world, and making plans for diplomatic efforts beyond those that are business-related.
- Ashal Hallus: Baran's daughter (born during round 9), Baran putting time and funds into prophecies around her led to Prophetic Education being established.
- Pelir Hallus: The pioneer of Hallus biotech research, and the mind between most notable recent Cyphiri advancements. She's not the head of the family but has enough influence through the family to get what they want, if possible, with the Belar family being one example of this. She's quite fond of Costa Sereia, having used much of their technology in her work since meeting them.
- Lanit Hallus: One of Baran's main diplomatic agents and representatives. She's spent a lot of time in Orope in the past, trying to help the Tellan stabilise and gain control of the merchants there, and the failure there has left a stain on her record that she's never been happy about. Since then, she's been assigned to coordinate with House Ulnesh in the Emerald Tidelands, a task she's working hard at in order to regain her standing within the family.
- Alket Hallus:

Belar
Supports: 140 (Mercantile)
Other: Wayfinder, Gulgolet Shero'ah Hakkol
A small family of explorers, eager to strike out into the unknown to find enough of value to make them rich. They established a mutually beneficial relationship with Pelir Hallus some years ago, with her finanicially backing their expeditions in exchange for her hearing first about their results and in general keeping the spark of adventure going within the Union, and with the establishment of the House system they've fallen fully under the banner of House Hallus. They're also the ones in charge of waste exploration and exploitation, journeying out in their ship, Wayfinder, and using gifts from the Abyssal Stewards to find anything of value out there.
- Retak Belar: The head of the Kelad, and one more focused around the ecoomics of their operations than the actual work they carry out. As such, he's very close to the Hallus, wanting to ensure further funding and the other benefits of being part of House Hallus keep coming.
- Rendal Belar: The captain of Wayfinder, the Kelad's ship built to venture out into the wastes. He's a devout follower of the Flowing Way who believes that uncovering the mysteries of the wastes may provide some kind of hidden insight to the secrets of the Way.
- Arnel Belar: One of the three top researchers below Pelir. Keeps well-informed about discoveries across the world, and primarily works with networks of small interconnected organisms.

House Ulnesh
Holy Sites: 122.1, 124.2, 124.3, 153.1
Supports: 122 (Clerical), 124 (Clerical/Aristocratic)
House Families: Carral
Formerly the dominant power among the Cyphiri families, before the ascendancy of the Hallus family. Originally, they split their interests between a very strong agricultural base and ways of leveraging said strength in political and economic endeavours, but as more and more food is imported, the Union grows beyond their capabilities to feed, and other families take bites out of their agricultural empire, they've been finding that strength waning. These days, they instead leverage their high status among Cyphiri followers of the Flowing Way, with Werran Ulnesh their leader, to secure power. There was once a great rivalry between Ulnesh and Hallus, strengthened by the Hallus takeover, but these days they're almost cordial as the Ulnesh support Hallus ventures in the Union Council while the Hallus help them with their own plans focused around the Emerald Tidelands.
- Werran Ulnesh: A devoted follower of the Way, close to Garren, excited to spread the Flowing Way to new lands, very curious about the way other countries and faiths work. He became the most influential Ulnesh after their fall from dominance, as his rapport with Cyphiri followers was separate from his family's business, and since Garren's death has taken control over the family as it focuses on its new direction.
- Relas Ulnesh: The member of Ulnesh's leadership council most pushing for them to retake the top spot, and the main opposition to its current direction. She was originally Garren's preferred successor, but in the years before his death disagreements between the two meant she lost his direct support. She's proven herself to be a competent leader in her position, though, putting to bed many doubts people had when she was younger.
- Helad Ulnesh: The man in charge of coordinating loans between the Ulnesh and other Cyphiri families, deciding who gets the offers and how they're repaid/the influence gained is otherwise used. Was once the favourite among most of the family to succeed Garren, but the family's shift in direction led to him being passed over in favour of Werran. He still has notable influence among other Cyphiri families due to his ability to leverage the loans, though, and he's been busy trying to bring various families into House Ulnesh.
- Neyran Ulnesh: One of the three top researchers below Pelir. Still keeps an interest in the agricultural development that originally gave House Ulnesh its edge, despite that losing focus for the wider family, and otherwise works to integrate foreign technology and techniques with Cyphiri methodology.

Carral
TPs: 123.1
Supports: 123 (Mercantile)
Small decentralised family who were once down on their luck and turned to the Bone-Grinder's Guild of [112] to try to make a new future for themselves. Their attempts to become more influential in the Guild ended up gaining them little, but the expedition eastwards that the Bone-Grinders sponsored has borne fruit for them, and they are now based in that region and have established themselves as a dominant mercantile power in the region by selling on imports from the Kelad.

House Tellan
TPs: 109.1, 114.2, 118.1, 118.2, 134.2
Supports: 126, 139 (Mercantile)
Other: CYP-OKI Trade Route
House Families: Kelad
Previously a minor family in one of Cyph-Arel's cities, now dedicated to the trade route between the Cyphiri and Middish. Operate a network of camps, rest stops and small businesses catering to those taking said route, and established the route itself. Has control over part of Orope's Giantbane Seed industry, along with investing in some nearby regions. Current leaders in fields relating to Supernatic Propogation, due to their ties to the Middish. They've ended up on the Hallus side of the Ulnesh/Hallus split in the Council, due to the family helping them secure the Cobalt Dye they now sell to the Middish.
- Tarpan Tellan: Head of the Tellan, now living in Orope full-time. Quite fond of the Middish, and their interpretations of the Flowing Way. Approves of the Hallus' shift towards a standing mercenary retainer, the Middish attitudes towards war and battle having rubbed off a little.
- Yanmet Tellan: Tarpan's second in command, handling things on the Cyph-Arel side of the business and dealing with the other Cyphiri families.

Kelad
TPs: 117.1
Supports: 118 (Mercantile)
Another minor family, and one that's been very active in sending out opportunity scouts to the regions nearby to the Cyph-Arel - Orope trade route. They're not planning on making many big attention-grabbing moves for the time being, but have a plan to acquire resources vital to the efforts of other families and sell it on to them at a profit. In recent decades, they've been having a lot of troubles with the Black Pearls, many of their major holdings being in waters that the syndicate holds sway in.
- Nalrin Kelad: An influential family member in the wake of the disruption brought by the Black Pearls, and very outspoken about her views of the syndicate.

House Pylet
TPs: 129.2
Supports: 125, 129 (Mercantile)
Other: Pyl-Garat (129)
One of the Union Council families, and the main one driving colonisation attempts. Has a great deal of influence with the smaller families and the colonists of Pyl-Garat, but is beholden to the Hallus in turn - an obligation they are trying to weasel out of as much as possible, not wanting to turn against old friends in the Ulnesh family but having found the offer from the Hallus too good to turn down.
- Hapat Pylet: The head of the Pylet family, the main family in control of Pyl-Garat. Doesn't have the best reputation among followers of the Flowing Way, between many statements he has made that were critical of it, and the fact that many of the people living in Pyl-Garat have ended up following the tenets of Sakurado instead. The man himself appears to follow neither faith.
- Rala Pylet: One of the three top researchers below Pelir. Primarily interested in the animals of the oceans, and the ways that their traits can be used in biotechnology.

Other Families
Holy Sites: 122.2, 122.3, 128.1

Statistics

Spoiler

Show

Special Actions Available: Diplomacy 10, Faith 10
Special Actions Used: Diplomacy 5, Economy 5, Economy 10, Faith 5, Military 5

Diplomacy

Spoiler

Show

Reputation/Favours
The Abyssal Stewards: Rep 2, -1 Favours (Expected Change: None)
- Welcome: +1 to resist Sacks and Coercion
- Friendly: +2 to resist Secret Actions
The Chelonian Chora: Rep 4, -1 Favours (Expected Change: None)
- Welcome: +1 to resist Supports becoming Open or Unruly
- Friendly: Distance Losses triggered every fourth region; -0.5 distance penalty (-1 if target is adjacent to/has a CCA base)
- Favoured: Can pay 4 regions to ship to a region with a CCA base from another CCA base; can Seek Aid after an action has been rolled 1/round
- Bell-Keeper: Can ring the Bell of Resolution as a Faith action to roll another action as 1d6/8+6.
- Voice of Harmony:
The Divine Nacre: Rep 2, 0 Favours (Expected Change: None)
- Welcome: +1 to Exploration, Prospecting and Colonisation
- Friendly: +2 to Investigations
International Prestige: Prestige Rank 3, 1 Prestige (Expected Change: None)
- Respected: +1 to Establishing and Pressing Claims and Promoting Claimants
- Admired: +1 to attempt/resist Sway and Impress actions
- Emulated: +2 to Raise Reputation, Slander and Resist Slander; use Cultural Identities through CIs twice a round; vassals can use your CIs and lieges your perfected tactical doctrines

Bases
122: Reefback Nursery
124: Smoking Garden

Cultural Exchanges
Costa Sereia

Cultural Identities
None

Great Works
The Palranic Anthology (Literature; kept in Cyph-Arel)

Military

Spoiler

Show

Units: 0 (Expected Change: +1)
Unit Cap: 11 (Base 3 + 3 Regions + 5 Supports)

Aristocratic Support
122, 129, 101, 111, 124

Generals
Renald (Mil 8): Prime Targets (Free Sack attempt on offence, -2 enemy leader loss on defence, -20% own and enemy casualties)

Perfected Tactical Doctrines
None

Fortresses
None

Military Technologies

Technology	Type	Effect	Requirements	Met?
Supermarine Artillery	Dropping Weapons	+1 to battle and maneuvering rolls in Depth 0 regions/	Supernatic Propogation, Photospore Signalling, R: Giantsbane Seeds	No

Economy

Spoiler

Show

Treasure: 8 (Expected Change: -4; Rate 2 + 3 Mamomachines - 9 actions)

Trade Posts
Effective Total TPs 19
Treasure Rate 2

Foreign TPs with Owned Mercantile Support 2

Trade Post	Resource	Use	Support	Rate
109.1	Swarm Ash	Bitter Tourism	Open	1
117.1	Biolumiscent Tunicates	Support of 118, Holographic Certification	Costa Sereia	1
118.1	Domesticated Sea Cows	Support of 126/129/139	Cyphiri	2
118.2	Domesticated Sea Cows	Support of 126/129/139	Cyphiri	2
122.1	Native Gold	Joined-Stalk Companies	Cyphiri	2
122.2	Native Gold	Joined-Stalk Companies	Cyphiri	2
123.1	Malleable Blubber	None	Cyphiri	2
127.1	Ray-Ear Seaweed	Support of 122/123/140	Black Pearls	0
129.2	Nutritious Silt	Support of 125	Cyphiri	2
134.2	Cobalt Dye	None	Costa Sereia	1
173.1	Tiny Tubeworms	Filtration Grafts	None	1
186.1	Mammoth Seals	Seeker Barnacles	None	1

Mercantile Support
118, 122, 123, 125, 129, 139, 140

Cities
None

Trade Routes
Cyphiri - Ironkelp Knights
Cyphiri - Kar-Nath Hegemony

Specialised Ships
Wayfinder

Civilian Technologies

Technology	Type	Effect	Requirements	Met?
Composite Grafting	Starter	None	None	Yes
Graduated Symbiosis	Starter	None	None	Yes
Megafaunal Tailoring	Starter	None	None	Yes
Photospore Signalling	Starter	None	None	Yes
Supernatic Propogation	Starter	None	None	Yes
Trophic Deconvolution	Starter	None	None	Yes
Anoxic Adaptation	Border (Access)	Cross Brackish Borders	Composite Grafting, Trophic Deconvolution	Yes
Bitter Tourism	Border (Access)	Cross Glacial Borders	R: Heat Source	Yes
Filtration Grafts	Border (Access)	Cross Toxic Borders	Composite Grafting, R: Filter Feeders	Yes
Electrodialytic Staurozoa	Border (Bonus)	Ignore the distance penalty from Briny borders twice/round, doesn't affect distance losses	None	Yes
Papershell Draft-Cuttle	Border (Bonus)	Ignore the distance penalty from Briny borders twice/round, doesn't affect distance losses; +1 Prospect in depth 0 Colonies	Supernatic Propagation, Anoxic Adaptation	Yes
Bioluminescent Navigation	Depth	Allows access to Depth 1 regions	Photospore Signalling	Yes
Holographic Certification	Action Bonus	+1 to resist Undermine Support actions	Photospore Signalling	Yes
Joined-Stalk Companies	Action Bonus	Expeditions reward 1 Treasure instead of +1 to a Buyout, Great Success gives automatic control of a TP instead of 1 Treasure, wastes exempt.	Composite Grafting, R: Precious Minerals	Yes
Adventuring Parties	Action Bonus	Can send Missions from any region with owned Aristocratic Support	Photospore Signalling, R: Skilled Labour	No
Seeker Barnacles	Action Bonus	Can send Expeditions from any region with an owned Trade Post	Graduated Symbiosis, R: Megafauna	Yes
Traveling Scholars	Ruler	Roll and drop 1 additional d4 when adopting a new non-dynastic ruler	R: Talented/Knowledgeable Labour	No
Mamomachines	Economy	Regain 1 Treasure per 3 spent in a round	None?	Yes

Faith

Spoiler

Show

Faith Holy Sites: 28

Clerical Support
122, 124

Organised Faith Bonuses
+1 to Impress Actions
Cultural Identity for Buyouts
Prophetic Education (Roll twice for Economy and choose either result when changing rulers dynastically)

Artefacts
Arthan’s Head As an action (that can be associated with any stat), the owner of Arthan's Head can select a region for the Head to focus on in the next round. This provides a +1 bonus to all actions targeting that region that use the same stat as the action used to focus the Head in the round before.
Shero'ah Hakkol One Prospect action per turn in a Wastes region gains a +2 bonus.
Lesser Piryon Ma’yan Reduces the action cost of Projects in one region by one action as long as exactly one action’s worth of progress is added to the Project each turn and the Piryon Ma’yan remains in the region the entire time. Currently applicable to Projects with an action cost of 5 (or more). As the Piryon Ma’yan grows, this effect may improve.

Holy Orders
None

Miracles
None

Intrigue

Spoiler

Show

Spies
None

Claims

Spoiler

Show

122 - Historicity, Integration
124 - Confederation

Total Passive Effects

Spoiler

Show

Actions
Buyouts: 2d8 CI
Impress: +1 Prestige, +1 Religion
Sway: +1 Prestige
Exploration: +1 Nacre Rep
Prospecting: +1 Nacre Rep, +2 Artefact (1/round)
Colonisation: +1 Nacre Rep
Claims: +1 Prestige

Defensive
Resist Coercion: +1 Steward Rep
Resist Sack: +1 Steward Rep
Resist Secret: +2 Steward Rep
Resist Supports becoming Open/Unruly: +1 Chora Rep
Resist Sway/Impress: +1 Prestige

Misc
Merchant Marine: Extra Economy action, 15 treasure cap, can spend 3 treasure on a roll, foreign TPs in mercantile support regions count towards treasure, can provide two resources through a trade route
Friendly with the Chora: -0.5 distance penalty (-1 if target region has/is adjacent to a Nursery, unit distance losses triggered every 4 effective regions
Favoured by the Chora: Pay 4 regions to skip to any region with a CCA base for distance penalty purposes, make 1 post-roll Seek Aid a round
Building Materials: 3/3 project actions count double

[Kythia]

Tropical, Region 10

Ruler: Basically-A-Kraken
D 1; M 7 ; E 7 ; F 1; I 1

It only makes sense, really. The cephalopods like big brains, the Magaramchi have bigger brains than anyone else. It probably should have come as no surprise when they surge over the borders. Probably. Perhaps if the Magaramchi had a more organised military they would have been able to muster a defense. Maybe even if Basically-A-Kraken hadn't been distracted by the collapse of the mercenary hall. Who knows, it could be that without constant attrition on the Magaramachi forces as individuals go off to attempt to eat the eel something could have been done. Or even if individuals gave a single shiny sea snail poo about concepts like "loyalty" or "collective safety". Regardless, the combination of one or more of those factors means the Magaramachi don't put up any resistance to the Shark People attack. Oh, sure, maybe the odd shark person gets eaten, maybe the odd Magaramachon does. But there's no organised response and once the sacking starts the nearby Magaramchi join in the ciolence with unrestrained glee, attacking tradeposts, shark people, other Magaramchi and on a non-zero number of occasions themselves with equal vigour.

For the avoidance of doubt: I am NOT defending against the Shark Person attack and they will benefit from support on the ensuing sacks due to my standing non-action.

Standard round actions (5)
1)Miltary - Continue great project - "The Mercenary Halls" Still 3/6 (Fluff action, no mechanical effect)

Apparently, and youmay think this obvious but the Magaramchi didn't know, there is an upper limit to the size of a building. The gigantic corridors nd cavernous halls are clear of pillars and other supports. Or at least they are briefly, currently they're a pile of rubble, even the buoyancy of the water unable to overcome the dictats of gravity. Behind the scenes negotiations are held and a delegation from the builders' union arrives to help. Guards are set round them for their protection, guards are set round them for their protection from their guards, Basically-A-Kraken himself moves to the area. What little control the Magaramchi can exert on anything is exerted on keeping those architects and masons safe. In the chaos of the rebuilding it takes some time for anyone to notice that the tacit approval of the Nacres has been withdrawn. Even if everything goes smoothly it will still take a long time to complete.

2)Miltary - Disband Unit
3)Miltary - Raise Unit

The drain on the Magaramchi armies continues as more and more come to the decision they are the one to devour the eel. For miles it's flank is ripped with (relatively) tiny gashes and the seas above it are littered with dead Magaramachi who discovered that they weren't, in fact, the one to devour the eel. Basically-A-Kraken frantically recruits but it can barely keep numbers even, not grow.

4)Economy - Settle Region 154 1/3
Magaramchi continue to drit north, attracted by the new algae cutivation and opportunity to practice eating the Eel Without End by starting off with smaller eels


5)Economy - Econ fluff action
A group of Magaramchi engage in a disasterous trade negotiation with passing Lojanese merchants. The two meet accidentally and the Magaramchi indicate that they want some of the sugar reeds the Lojanese are carrying. The head of the caravan is a major merchant's son commanding his first acravan and either wasn't listening to or didn't remember his father's advice. In an attempt to drive repeat business he claims that he is the "biggest shipper of sugar reeds in this area". Well, he certainly doesn't look that big but no Magaramchon could leave that unchallenged. His guards put up a ferocious fight, those who survive certainly deserve a raise. But most don't - the numbers were roughly equal and one on one a Magaramachon is equal to most things. The caravan, the majority of its staff and all its wares are eaten.


Net effects
Military+1 Econ + 1
Treasure 0->0 (Current Max 5)
Units 2->2

Spoiler: Misc Info

Show

Econ 5 used.

Spoiler: Technology

Show

Supernatic Propogation (starting tech)

Blood Algae
Military slot: Sappers and Siege Weapons
Pre-reqs: Supernatic Propogation
Effects: +20% enemy casualties, +10% own casualties in depth 0 regions
Write up: This dull green algae infects wounds and grows exponentially in blood, rapidly causing the owner of such an infected wound to die. Using the techniques of supernatic propogation a cloud can be rapidly convened above the battlefield making even slight wounds considerably more dangerous. Knowing it is there gives some protection - or at least some chance of avoidance - but its infectious growth is impossible to totally avoid. The main defence is getting deep enough that the surface growing algae ceases to be a problem.

Spoiler: Military

Show

General Tiny (Mil 7)

Carnage:
Less a "tactical doctrine" than an utter lack of anything approaching tactics or doctrine. Through sheer force of will and physical might a leader can get the Magaramchi to the battle field. More or less. Once blood hits the water though, the army descends into a chaotic mess of fighting and feeding, attacking the army, each other and anything that happens to be nearby with equal fervour.
3 free sack attemps, ordered as City>Holy Order>Trading Post (the intent being here that bigger things are sacked before smaller things)
+50% own losses (as they turn on one another)
-1 to battle rolls (turns out having no strategy at all is harmful)
+2 to allied leader losses (the enemy is trying to kill you, sure, but the disadvantage of being the biggest in this sort of mess is that sometimes one of your own will get lucky)

Non-actions

• Support Everything The Magaramchi aren't sophisticated and those intelligent enough to understant the concept of loyalty don't have any. Tossing a handful of sweets in the water will ensure local support for anything needed. Sacks, sways, whatever. If anyone wants to do something, they can get local support easily.
• Hostile Terrain for Everyone Any armies marching through are going to be facing nigh constant uncoordinated attacks from the locals wo are hungry or bored (interestly, the same word in the Magaramchi language). All Magaramchi territories are hostile to all armies, regardless of alliances.

[Gengy]

Round 16
[Gotezhar Builders Union]
[Feytor Mira'din, Tsunami's Wake]
Regions: 138, 128, 136, 137, 139, 174

Actions:

1. [Economy 10] Develop Technology [Approved]
   
   Spoiler: Sojourn Suits

   Show

   Requirements: Anoxic Adaptation, Filtration Grafts, [Tools], [Clothing]
   Effect: Permits actions and troop movement across terrestrial wastes (purple) borders.
   
   From the perspective of the Gotezhar and the Builder's Union, the Divine Nacres have been unhelpful and unforgiving for questions asked decades ago. While no previous enmity existed, the continued lack of assistance has a marked difference on the Builder's Union compared to other nations. It is with some small amount of satisfaction that the Builder's Union openly defies the Divine Nacres for the first time, developing a way to explore the Terrestrial Wastes. Using specific Mineblossom Sponge tools combined with intentional clothing pieces from Clam Vines, the Gotezhar and Mer of the Builder's Union are able to go where none have dared to before.
2. [Faith 5] Discover Artifact - Essensio's Conch [Approved]
   Effects: +2 to Leader Loss rolls (for one commander per turn)
   Squall Essensio has had a good life. They have traveled far and wide, and done many services for the Gotezhar and the Builder's Union. The strain, however, is too much for them, and they will soon Burst. Before they do, they send one last package - under heavy guard - back to the capital of Dounpor: A strange conch the former General apparently found early in their career. Essensio called it their lucky conch, and said that just by having it nearby, they could remain calm and make more informed decisions; decisions that saved the former General's life more than once.
3. [Diplomacy] Sway Aristocrats in 174 [Roll: 15] (-1 Treasure)
4. [Diplomacy] Sway Aristocrats in 137 [Roll: 18] (-1 Treasure)
   Feytor Mira'din seeks to ensure that her Builder's Union remains safe, secure, and well cared for. She personally travels to regions near and far, and appoints new Governors for the regions.
5. [Diplomacy] Sway Aristocrats in 130 [Roll: 15] (-1 Treasure)
   Rumors of clouds traveling too close to the border of New Gloucester have many Nuven worried and upset. Mira'din travels to the border, and finds that the damage caused by Reavers has many of the locals in Gloucester equally disturbed. Unwilling to allow them to suffer, she sends teams of builders to aid in re-establishing order... and warns the Monheganist Regime that she will be watching for any mistreatment.
6. [Diplomacy] Attend Event, "The Coronation of Primarch Petrix"
   Having good relations with the Costa Sereia is important to the Builder's Union. What was started when it was just the Gotezhar continues to be a successful economic relationship, so a delegation is sent to congratulate the new Primarch on their coronation.
   Something goes wrong though with some of the intended members of the delegation, and while a number of apologies are made, it does not erase the fact that a group of Workers went to the event specifically to air their grievances towards the Divine Nacres.
   
   Spoiler: Sub-Actions

   Show

   • The following nations receive [Sojourn Suits] (and if they don't have them, [Anoxic Adaptation] and [Filtration Grafts])
     - SKR
     - HEX
     - STC
   • Accept Technologies from SKR

LINK TO ROLLS

Non-Actions:

• Provide support for conversions to Flowing Way schools in Builders Union territories
• Cultural Exchange: Gift COS and LOL the following Technologies
  
  - Anoxic Adaption
  - Filtration Grafts
  - Sojourn Suits
  - Mamomachines
• Cultural Exchange: Trade LOL Devolving Standardized Integrations and Razor Current Netting for Death Commando Conditioning and Indah's Embrace
• As Feytor Mira'din is unable to deny the publicly viewed 'poetry' performed by some Gotezhar Workers, Do Not Resist Slander Rolls against GTZ towards DNA
• Bank: Accept (1) Treasure from the Seatide Confederacy
• SPY: Researcher 42 defends GTZ interests
• Build a Monument - Essensio's Pride (2/3)
  Joontar Arjiloza seems intent on honoring the warriors of old, and turns their attention to the former General, Squall Essensio. It took many years to figure it out, but having finally arrived at New Korasoon - and finding that Esseniso is near ready to Burst - Arjiloza seeks the former General out and asks their old friend what they might like as a memorial. The Squall thinks slowly, before answering: A wall. A wall to fall back behind. Perhaps useless for those that swim over it, but having even just one side covered will help. Joontar Arjiloza sees the wisdom in this, and promises the former General they will build the nicest wall anyone has ever seen! Days later, surrounded by their family, Squall Essensio bursts. Their nuven grows several inches each, and the resolve of the Builder's Union grows with them. Arjiloza begins to lay foundations for a fantastic wall within the exact center of New Korasoon.
• The Magaramchi Salination has requested the aid of the Builder's Union; not for the Gotezhar's military might, but for the well developed skills of construction! The Magaramchi hall of mercenaries needs experts to assist in it's construction, and this is an opportunity that cannot be ignored. Joontar Edgefikar gathers a stout crew of Workers, and leads them on the long journey to assist the Salination and help prove the Builder's Union's skills!

Spoiler: News and Rumors

Show

• The Gotezhar have not forgotten the Reaver attacks, but seem more interested in finding out why they are attacking then they are in finding the Reavers themselves... The most recent Reaver attacks have only renewed their interest in discovering the cause. Feytor Mira'din reaches out to allies to see if anyone has any new information on the Reavers. The Builders Union appears to be making motions towards finding out more about these raiders...
• The first of Mira'din's children: Saroon'din, Kora'sin, and Huurjan'oak. At the age of seven - around the year 48 - Saroon'din, heir to the title of Feytor, begins to learn tactics from retired Squall. Kora'sin continues to spend time with his father, and is proving keen at both mathematics and matters of trade. Kora'sin often has a group of Merchant Caste Gotezhar attending him, some of whom have been Merchants for longer than Woenpal Noerjang has been alive; yet they readily take orders from the second eldest of the Feytor's children. Huurjan'oak, the third eldest, goes missing quite frequently from Doupor, only to be found near the Gathering Tide Warehouse almost every time. How the young boy continues to sneak inside the secure Warehouse, no one is quite certain, but everyone is becoming increasingly sure that the seven year old mer boy knows his way around the Gathering Tide better than most professional guides!
• Mira'din's second set of children Druthtu'o, Proj'eto, and Shbuul'walg, are all seen as darling little creatures by every Gotezhar they meet. Druthtu'o - who prefers to be called just 'Druth' much to his father's consternation - stays near his mother most of the time, regardless of if she's actively watching him or conducting matters of state. Getting him to leave for any reason is seen as more trouble than it's worth; he has a pair of lungs on him that demands attention. His younger brothers, Proj'eto, and Sbuul'walg, keep to themselves, and are seen by many as shy younglings. Proj'eto, it's rumored, cannot talk at all, leading to some (possibly cruel) jokes that Druth got both his and his brother's vocal chords. Sbuul'walg, meanwhile, is either just as attached to his mute brother as Druth is to their mother, or the youngest child is very protective of his brother. The fact that all three of the younger brothers have a form of Bolya continues to make a small group of Gotezhar pay quite a bit of attention to all three of them, which seems innocent enough, though their older brother Kora'sin supposedly doesn't much care for three Nuven that have chosen to do this.

Spoiler: Ruler Information

Show

Feytor Mira'din, Tsunami's Wake	D	M	E	F	I
Current	6	10	10	5	3
Rolled Stats	5	4	3	4	1
End of round 10	0	2	1	0	0
End of round 11	0	0	2	0	1
End of round 12	0	1	1	0	1
End of round 13	0	2	0	1	0
End of round 14	1	1	1	0	0
End of round 15	0	0	2	0	0
End of round 16	0	0	0	0	0

New Ruler Next Round!

Expected Stat Bonuses: +2 Dip

Spoiler: Book Keeping

Show

Units: (9 / 14)
General(s):
- Squall Kagado (Mil 10) [+1 to Battle when using Aim for the Storm's Center]
Perfected Doctrines
[Aim For the Storm's Center: +1 Maneuvering, -6 to enemy leader loss roll, -20% to enemy losses]
Fortresses: Sublime Fortress, Region 138

Cities:
City of Saroonï'din (136) [Saroon'din grants a +1 to Resist Sacks in the region for players who hold Mercantile Support in the region]

Spies:
Researcher 42 (Int 9)

Trade Routes:
Gotezhar (138) to the Sakura-Jin (119)
Gotezhar (138) to the Lojanese Republic (9)
Treasure (10 / 12)

Member in Good Standing of the Polar-Confederate International Bank
(+2 Treasure Cap)

Special Ships:
Tipsy John

Cultural Exchanges:
Gotezhar (138) to Costa Sereia (134)
Gotezhar (138) to the Lojanese Republic (9)

World Wonder
The Gathering Tide Warehouse (138)
Wonder Effect: The owner of this Wonder gains +1 passive Treasure income and may, once per Project, count a Project action as two Project actions if they spend one (1) Treasure as part of said Project action.

Technologies:

Supernatic Propagation
Trophic Deconvolution
Megafaunal Tailoring
Photospore Signalling
Composite Grafting
Graduated Symbiosis
Razor Current Netting

+10% enemy casualties and +1 to Maneuvering roll when defending, or attacking with a foothold

Supermarine Artillery

+1 to battle rolls and +1 to maneuvering rolls in Regions with Depth 0

Anoxic Adaptation

The user can now cross Brackish borders.

Bitter Tourism

The user can now cross Glacial borders.

Filtration Grafts

The user can now cross Toxic borders.

Electrodialytic Staurozoa

May ignore the increased effective distance from a Briny border up to twice per round. This does not reduce the effect of Briny borders on distance loss calculations.

Devolving Standardized Integrations

Following a victory in battle, the victorious commander gains a +1 to battle rolls for a number of rounds equal to half (rounding down) the number of units the opponent lost.

Holographic Certification (Requirement Needed: Bioluminescent Ink)

+1 to rolls when resisting Undermine Support

Bioluminescent Navigation

Allows traversal of Depth 1 regions.

Mamomachines

For each 3 treasure you spend, you receive 1 Treasure at the end of the turn.

[Talis]

The Seatide Confederacy

Spoiler: News and Rumors

Show

• To celebrate the creation of the Polar-Confederate International Bank, Seatide decrees that they will provide a small bounty of treasure in the form of financial investment bonds to any nation that joins.
• By order of the Council of Seatide, Mammos is hereby banned from Seatide and blacklisted from all Services the Confederacy or its members may provide. Suspicious accounts will be flagged for auditing, and any account opened by or in connection to Mammos will be frozen.

Actions:

[Military] Raise Fortress
Recent events have convinced the Council that Seatide may not be immune from threat. To further defend Deepdrift, the Council orders the construction of the Tidewall. Workers carve new tunnels and passages to direct the flow of water below the city. Bioengineered creatures act as pumps, pushing the water into these tunnels until it emerges from vents around Deepdrift, creating a turbulent, swirling wall of water that is nigh impossible to swim through! A series of valves and catches allows the city's defenders to strengthen the wall at essential points, or cut the currents off to create gateways in and out of the city.

[Diplomacy] Establish an Embassy with the Lojanese Republic
Judge Shimmering Gray signs a new treaty with the Lojanese Republic at an extravagant ceremony, establishing a new diplomatic relationship between the nations and ensuring the Lojanese Republic's eventual admission into the PCIB.

[Diplomacy] Attend the Coronation of Primarch Patrix

Spoiler: subactions

Show

Give 5 Treasure to COS as payment for their investigation into the Reavers, and as compensation for money spent on the investigation itself.
Trade Supermarine Artillery and Electrodialytic Staurozoa to LOJ in exchange for Indah's Embrace
Accept techs from GTZ

Seatide diplomats pay their regards to the honorable Primarch Patrix, while their staff engage in other diplomacy behind the scenes.

[Economy] Create a Trade Route with the Shifting Ennead
The Ennead is one of Seatide's oldest allies. Despite recent policy disagreements, the Council goes through with plans to deepen ties with their neighbor by establishing a series of Caravansaries along the route between their capitals, enabling greatly increased trade volume.

[Economy] Impress Merchants in Sketi (68) spending 3 wealth
Knowing that they're going into a hostile environment, Seatide Merchants come to Sketi armed with immense financial backing.

[Economy] Impress 179 using Frozen Logs
Thanks to their recent acquisition of Frozen Logs, Seatide merchants now have a viable preservative for sale. While frozen logs are not as effective as Rimestone, Seatide makes up for the difference through financial heft and access to Seatide's trade network.

Non-Actions:
Oppose all Sway and Impress actions targeting merchants loyal to Seatide
Support Buyouts for factions that own the territory they are making the buyout in
Transfer 1 Treasure to GTZ to reward them for joining the bank
Accept the trade route with DRG

Die Rolls: https://forums.giantitp.com/showsing...&postcount=917

Spoiler: Book Keeping

Show

Ruler
Judge Shimmering Grey
Diplomacy: 5 (1
Military: 5
Economy: 5 (+2)
Faith: 2
intrigue: 3

Military Units: 6

Regions Owned: [Seatide 79]
City: +1 to Buyout 1/turn
Total Regions: 1
Land Unit Cap: 5 (5 Capital Unit Cap)

Artifacts:
The Tideglobe - This mysterious artifact is a transparent orb full of shimmering liquids and colors, which swirl and dance about in hauntingly beautiful patterns. By carefully watching the movement of lights and changing colors inside the Tideglobe, Seers can augur future events and predict how to counter hostile actions. Effect: +1 to one Intrigue roll opposing a hostile Secret Action, once per turn.
Glowspire - A twisting spire twenty feet tall, shaped like a twisted coral. Bioluminescent algae inside the spire change color depending on the trace elements that flow into the spire, allowing it to predict water conditions even thousands of miles away. Specially trained Tideseers read the colors, using them to predict where Reaver attacks are most likely to occur. As an added benefit, the haunting twists and colors of the spire are eerily beautiful to the untrained eye. Effect: Each turn, predicts an area that the Reavers will target if they attack that turn.
The Bare Trap - Mystical trap that helps defend against Reavers.
The Banner of Odyssey (Cultural) This enormous tapestry depicts the ancient Pepsin migration to Seatide, embroidered in such a way that the images seem to leap off into the water.

Culture:
Mutually Beneficial Arrangements - 2d8 to performing and resisting Impress Merchant attempts

Military Technologies:
Devolving Standardized Integrations (Following a victory in battle, the victorious commander gains a +1 to battle rolls for a number of rounds equal to half (rounding down) the number of units the opponent lost.) Prerequisites: Composite Grafting. Slot: Combat Drugs and Medicine.
Razor Current Netting (+10% enemy casualties and +1 to maneuvering rolls when attacking with a foothold or defending) Prerequisites: Composite Grafting, Glass. Slot: Fortifications
Supermarine Artillery

Civilian Technologies:
Composite Grafting (Starting Tech)
Graduated Symbiosis (Starting Tech)
Megafaunal Tailoring (Starting Tech)
Photospore Signaling (Starting Tech)
Supernatic Propagation (Starting Tech)
Trophic Deconvolution (Starting Tech)
Bioluminescent Navigation (Allows exploration and utilization of Depth 1 regions)
Filtration Grafts
Electrodialytic Staurozoa
Radiant Spheres
Anoxic Adaptation (Permits actions and troop movement across brackish (green) borders). Prerequisites: Composite Grafting, Trophic Deconvolution
Holographic Certification (+1 to resisting Undermine Support actions) Prerequisites: Bioluminescent Ink, Photospore Signaling.
Bitter Tourism (Permits actions and troop movement across glacial (black) borders) Prerequisites: Heat Source.
Traveling Scholars (Extra roll/drop 1d4 on non-dynastic ruler change) Prerequisites: Talented Labor.

Resources controlled:
[Frozen Logs (64, TP1)]
[Talented Crab (65, TP1)] Support
[Talented Crab (67, TP2)] Support
[Gravelglass (68, TP1)]
[Edible Algae (69, TP2)] Support
[Inkfang Worms (70, TP2)]
[Rust-Veined Pumice (73, TP3)]
[Firefly Squid (74, TP1)] Support
[Magnetic Sand (75. TP1)] Support
[Bluefish Antifreeze, Seatide (79, TP1)] Support
[Bluefish Antifreeze, Seatide (79, TP2)] Support
[Bluefish Antifreeze, Seatide (79, TP3)] Support
[Dragon Eyes, Cryptoclysus (84, TP1)]
[Stripdrill Hyphenae (187, TP1)]
[Sour Krill (80, TP1)]

Merchant Faction ETB: +10
ETP Total: 33

Treasure: 9 (+3 / Turn)

Factional Support:
Kenaqua (52) - Merchant (Supply Firefly Squid)(+2 ETP)
(59) - Merchant (Supply Edible Algae)(+1 ETP)
(65) - Merchant (Supply Rust-Veined Pumice)
The Cathedral of Movement (67) - Merchant (Supply Stripdrill Hyphenae) (+1 ETP)
Danabae (69) - Merchant (supply Inkfang Worms)(+2 ETP)
Region (70) - Merchant (using Sour Krill)(+1 ETP)
Aelwyd Adferiad (71) - Merchant (Supply Edible Algae)(+1 ETP)
Maurente (74) - Merchant (Supply Edible Algae)(+1 ETP)
The Plains of Sarkenos (75) - Merchant (Supply Inkfang Worms)
Seatide (79) - Merchant, Aristocrat, Clergy (Supply Firefly Squid)
(101) - Merchants (Supply Stripdrill Hyphenae)(+1 ETP)
(187) - Merchant (Supply Inkfang Worms)

Projects and Wonders:
Polar-Confederate International Bank (Seatide, 67)

Spoiler: Effects (Approved)

Show

Polar-Confederate International Bank
A central bank established under the authority of the Seatide Confederacy to weld various trade interests into a single market. The bank consolidates the assets, accounts and debts of member states, issues a common currency backed by those accounts, and services transactions between members.
Effect: Any nation in contact with the Seatide Confederacy may adopt the Arctic Exchange Currency as a 2-action project. Nations using the common currency gain the following benefits:
+2 increased Treasure cap
May spend 1 additional treasure on Economy actions within it and other member nations
May transfer 1 treasure to another currency user 1/turn.
The Seatide Confederacy (or current controller of Seatide) automatically counts as a currency user. Additionally, the bank's controller can kick members out of the union, or block any of the above "bank actions" as a nonaction.

Current Members:
STC, GTZ

Diplomacy:
Trade Route with the Gravetenders
Trade Route with Lux Glossia
Cultural Exchange with the Shifting Ennead
Promise from the Shark People to not threaten Seatide merchants or assets

Favor and Reputation:
Abyssal Stewards: 1 Favor
1 favor from the Cryptid Congress for giving them a free technology
1 favor from Cyphiri for intentionally losing a PRS Slot

[Tychris1]

The Lighthouse

Ruler: The Vessel, Conqueror of Reefs, and Blessed Blade of the Lucent Order.
Regions: 7, 17, 18, 19, 22, 26
D: 10
M: 10
E: 10
F: 10
I: 2

Actions:
Rolls
1) Faith: Convert holy site 1 region 17
2) Faith: Convert holy site 2 region 17
3) Faith: Impress Clergy Region 18
4) Faith: Convert holy site 3 region 17
5) Military: Impress Aristocracy Region 18 Budak Perak
6) Military: Giantslayer (spending 1 treasure) roll

Non-Actions: Resist all conversions and buyouts unless noted otherwise

Attempt to shape our Goddess' influence towards converting to Crimson Chant

Stats next round Rolls
D: 6
M: 5
E: 5
F: 8
I: 3

Spoiler: Book Keeping

Show

Regions Owned: 7, 17, 18, 19, 22 and 26

TPs owned:
Siren Extract TP 2 and 3 Region 2
Treasures and Artifacts TP 1 Region 7 (Support)
Delights of Moonlight TP 1 Region 17
Carcinized Architects TP 2 Region 20
Jaderock Coral TP 2 Region 21
Sandfish TP 2 Region 22
Blood Pearls TP 3 Region 26
Tiny Turtles TP 2 Region 28

Units Owned: 1/14 Maximum
Treasure Owned: 2 (spending 1 this turn)

Artifacts Owned:
War Palanquin of the Anointed Dead: +2 to Tac Man
The Radiant Blade: When wielded by a commander in battle, Gain +1 to battle rolls per charge on the sword. The sword gains a charge for every 2 casualties in combat and can hold a maximum of 3. Each charge adds 10% own casualties and loses all gained charges if not used in combat for 1 round.

Radiant Blade Charges: 0/3

Miracle Communion:
LIT only takes 5%/10% additional casualties from losing Maneuvering when one or both sides are attempting to use the Eel to their advantage.
LIT is not affected by the increased effective region count for distance losses and distance penalties where the Eel is present, and regions where the Eel Without End is omnipresent only count as 1 additional region for the purpose of distance losses and distance penalties for LIT.
LIT’s Supports will not become Open in regions where the Eel Without End is omnipresent.
LIT may attempt to shape what the Eel Without End converts Holy Centers to when it enters a region for the second time.
The Eel Without End will not Coerce LIT’s Trading Posts unless those are the only Trading Posts in the region.
LIT may use a Faith action to try to direct the path of the Eel Without End each turn.

[Feathersnow]

PRIMARCH PETRIX THE PIED PEARL

6 Diplomacy
4 Military
5 Economy
8 Faith
1 intrigue


ACTIONS

Diplomacy Vassalize the Black Pearls roll success!?

Diplomacy host an event- The Coronation of Primarch Petrix

Sub actions- all attendees gifted Draft Cuttle and Scrying technologies, all gifts accepted




Diplomacy Create a Diplomatic Exchange with The Ennead

Economy Raise one wealth.

While the results are tabulated, resources are gathered

Faith Create an Artifact- TBD

Intrigue slander the Gotezhar to the Nacres

this roll was incorrectly calculated based on a diplo instead of Intrigue. Due to "side effects' the actual numbers were apparently the same after calculating the vonus for my DNA rep, which I forgot to add. In any event, the Gotezhar decline to resist the slander, so it succeeds by default

We tried to warn the Nacres about the Gotezhar, but we were just too nice. It still seemed to get across, though

Stat increases-

Outstanding .5 Economy, .5 Faith

New- +1.5 Diplomacy, .5 Economy, .5Faith, .5 int

Results- +1 Diplomacy, +1 Economy,+1 Faith

outstanding- .5 diplo, .5 int

7 Diplomacy
4 Military
6 Economy
9 Faith
1 intrigue

Spoiler: PRS Monument 1/3

Show

The Garden of Contemplation

The Garden of Contemplation, located in Tair, is a memorial to the devastation wrought there by the Trawling Beasts. It is a cube of brightly colored kelp forest in the middle of a stark rockscape. Little fish flit around the kelp, and giant, shiny snails graze among the stalks. Dwarf basking sharks cycle around the borders.

In the center is a plinth that hold the names of those lost in the Trawling Beast attacks. The plinth is separated from the forest by a sterile border of lava rock, and it itself is a single giant slab of granite.

[Aerin]

The Lux-Glossian Shades

The cities of Leriander and Holy Ovum in the Glossian Sea (135)
The cliff city of Rumond carved into the Tideswept Shelf (111)
A temple town at Narcis's Rest (173)
The settlement of Fuschia Lagoon in Rilanto Pass (94)
Haven, Hunter’s Rest, and the Serovin Forest in the Greenwater (141)
Round 16

Background - Infighting consumes all Lux-Glossian waters

Spoiler: News

Show

After rapidly cycling through four rulers in three years (see non-actions 8-11 of last turn), the populace of Lux-Glossia is relieved to return to a level of normalcy under Grand Matriarch Filara that, if it cannot be described as "functional" by any other nation, at least conforms to typical Lux-Glossian expectations of nepotism and corruption.

Alas, the newfound stability is not to last. Filara, twenty-five years older than the average lifespan for her race, has a degenerative condition that makes it increasingly difficult as the months drag on for her to play the political games required to wrangle the votes of the other Matriarchs. Like sharks smelling blood in the water, each of the other six founding Shades of Leriander rallies behind their eldest member to make deals with lesser Shades for votes, slander elder rivals, and plot political demise. This is, of course, par for the course in Lux-Glossian politics.

The key factor that elevates this situation from "just the Shades fighting over internal resource allocation again" to "actively dangerous to foreign powers" is the addition of the Greenwater Clans.

Years have passed since the first crude integration efforts, and the Clans are not dumb. Brutal, stubborn, and ornery, yes, but never dumb. With direct violence failing due to the bolstered presence of the knights of the Ironkelp Order, the Speakers and clan heads turn to intrigue and finesse. Power blocks of Clans form behind the various likely inheritors of the Grand Matriarchy, as each Speaker sells their influence to the highest bidder. The resources and manpower the Clans pull from the Greenwater intensify the crippling effect the political squabbling has on day-to-day life in the Glossian Sea and enables the faction infighting to spill over to Rumond and beyond. Nowhere in all of the many scattered Lux-Glossian outposts can one be free of the watchful eyes and interfering tendrils of the Matriarchs.

Truly, the Lux-Glossian Shades and the Greenwater Clans have brought out the absolute worst in each other.

Actions - Exodus of the Glossian Sea

1. ECO - [Colonize region 152] 13, SUCCESS, treasure spent
The first signs of major trouble appear amongst Lux-Glossia's most mobile social class: young men old enough to provide for themselves, but not yet settled enough to transition to a new Shade. Traditionally, those years are spent adventuring, whether that adventure be through exploration of foreign waters or the exploration of new trades, relationships, and hobbies. The found friends resulting from these adventures become found family when the young adults form or join new Shades at about age 40, with the majority of the youths joining existing, well-established Shades in Leriander or Rumond.

That is no longer the case. In trickles of two or three at a time, the next generation of Lux-Glossians flees starvation and brutality in Leriander to colonize far-flung seas. This marks the first ever attempt to settle a colony without an already-established Shade (Orange Shade - Rumond (111), Azure Shade - Temple of Narcis (173), Fuschia Shade - Fuschia Lagoon (94)). A small but substantial number of warriors and Speakers from the Clans take advantage of the discord and install themselves as an integral part of the new colony's administration.

2. ECO - [Colonize region 186] 17, SUCCESS, treasure spent
Those amongst the Lux-Glossian youths with the energy left to be angry at the Matriarchs for the injustice and the ambition to rebel head south, not east. In the frigid polar waters, Skipper Lera Celadon has gathered a growing contingent of brilliant mer Matriarchs and Shades that have heavily borrowed from the culture of the shark-riding pojan nomads. Putting aside the almost-religious calling to explore the natural bounty of the world for the moment, Lera's recruits focus on establishing a self-sufficient colony for the breeding and taming of the native Mammoth Seals for use as mounts.

3. INT - [Continue work on a World Wonder] [3/5]
Many of the refugees from the dangerous conditions in Leriander have neither the resources nor the physical capability to forge a new life in a fledgling colony. So many flee to Rumond that the local Matriarchs construct a shelter for them, with the project personally championed to an almost obsessive degree by Matriarch Falnir Hallus of the Orange Shade. Strange that she chose to erect a single, large building rather than dedicated, traditional housing, but at least she's helping ...

The building itself is a simple structure of two concentric hexagons, with the interior area used as an open-air courtyard. The entirety of the wall space bounding the courtyard is filled with mirror-polished floor-to-ceiling panels of luminescent crystal.

4. INT - [Continue work on a World Wonder] [4/5]
In the Greenwater, Speaker Meriel Swiftwater seeks to reconnect with her power base by appealing to the faithful of Ascension’s Mirror. A small but sturdy temple is personally commissioned by the Speaker to facilitate communion with the Living Grave.

The building itself is a simple structure of two concentric hexagons, with the interior area used as a sanctum for offerings. The entirety of the wall space bounding the sanctum is filled with mirror-polished floor-to-ceiling panels of luminescent crystal.

5. INT - [Investigate southwest of region 175] 22, GREAT SUCCESS, treasure spent
Many of those suffering hardship at the hands of the Matriarchs find solace in the songs of peace and tranquility sung by the Chelonian Chora. A small cult of desperate explorers claims to have decrypted the latest lyrics from the turtle-riders and sets out to the place where they believe the tune originated.

Non-Actions

1. Spy non-action.

2. Finish a monumental undertaking. [3/3] +1 PRS
With pillars raised along the exterior ring and mid-way through the interior seating, coral-shell-limestone cement is molded into a proper second story of seating. The last piece of the amphitheater to be embellished is the stage itself. Several elaborate backdrops are created by local artists, while extra-bright luminescent crystal is imported for use in spotlights. The finished monument optimistically has space to seat the entire temple town at Narcis’s Rest with plenty of empty seats left over. There is room for artistry and talent to grow here.

3. Repay the Divine Nacres with Devolving Standardized Integrations. +1 DNA favor (-1 -> 0)

4. Ask the ABS to prospect the Emerald Tidelands (124) with the aim of uncovering Hard Metal and permission from the Cyphiri Union. -1 ABS favor (2 -> 1)
As the faction infighting reaches Rumond and leadership begins to disintegrate, several canny Cyphiri Matriarchs take advantage of the disorganization to request a favor on behalf of the Union.

5. Send Sugarweed to SHK using the trade route.
Skipper Lera does not forget her allies. The pojan nomads will not go hungry this year.

6. Support MIR buyout of TP 3 of Luminescent Crystal in the Glossian Sea (135).
The Miru-Miru have splendid taste in décor and thus know all the proper ways to use glowing quartz panels to maximize fashionability.

7. Transfer all known techs to OKI through the cultural exchange. Receive Supermarine Artillery.
Most of Lux-Glossia’s more academically oriented professionals take advantage of the embassy opened by the Ironkelp Order in recent years to quietly flee the nation. They take valuable knowledge and skills with them. As the Order sends ever more knights to futilely keep the peace in Leriander, Giantsbane becomes more easily studied.

8. Accept Ivory Legionnaires from ESP over the trade route. Send back Luminescent Crystal.
Use Ivory Legionnaires to power Traveling Scholars.
The Matriarchs have promised seats on the Conclave to the rebel Ivory Legions if they manage to overthrow their oppressors. A few of the more clever Shades arrange to learn of the customs and traditions of the region ahead of the anticipated influx of new members, aided by the Eternal Spring’s generous travel grants to Legion leadership.

9. Ignore OKI's request to found the Order of Knights of the Holy Radiance as the unstable political situation in Leriander prevents an organized response.

10. Change ruler non-dynastically to Taman of the Viridian Shade, Eldest of the Matriarchs and Siren of the Lambent Syndicate. Rolls here.

After three years of the worst infighting and intrigue in Lux-Glossian history thanks to foreign income and influence from the Greenwater Clans, Grand Matriarch Filara finally passes away of old age. As has been the custom for hundreds of years, the Grand Conclave is convened to determine and elevate the next eldest Matriarch. An unexpected complication arises.

Decades ago, cyphiri Matriarch Falnir Hallus became the first non-mer and non-lysimia to hold a Matriarch position. Her spot on the Grand Conclave was uncontested, as the moderate cyphiri lifespan of 80 years meant that she would never become old enough to ascend to the Grand Matriarchy so long as a single elderly lysimia could challenge her. This was a strategic mistake on the part of the six founding Shades, whose large membership typically allows for a stranglehold over the executive position.

They allowed her to establish a precedent for Matriarchs of other races.

Mere weeks before Grand Matriarch Filara's passing, the 135 year old Siren Taman accepted the physical crystal-tipped scepter of responsibility and the metaphorical Matriarch-titled scepter of responsibility for the Viridian Shade, of which she had been a member since her debut at OASIS. Her ascent to the position of Grand Matriarch is perfectly within the letter of the law and follows centuries of tradition. The problem lies with her lifespan.

Effectively immortal, assuming a proper supply of Siren cerebro-spinal fluid.

The Shades cannot simply play the long game and wait for her to age out of leadership, as has been done for so many unfavored Matriarchs before. The recent caravan of gifts from the Matrons ensured that Taman has all that she needs. They cannot discredit her method of ascent, as that would overthrow the very mechanism they use to maintain leadership over the mer. And they cannot easily assassinate her, as the recent caravan came with an honor-guard of Death Commando kucen males.

The only option left to the Shades is to join her.

Spoiler: Ruler stats and stat increases

Show

Ruler: Filara of the Cyan Shade, Eldest of the Matriarchs

Ruler stats for round 16:
(low stats are treated as 4 due to PRS rank 4)
Diplomacy - 4
Military - 3
Economy - 5
Faith - 3
Intrigue - 7

Ruler increases: +1 Economy, +1 Intrigue

New ruler: Siren Taman of the Viridian Shade, Eldest of the Matriarchs. Rolls here.

Ruler stats for round 17:
Diplomacy - 3
Military - 3
Economy - 5
Faith - 2
Intrigue - 6

Spoiler: Reminders for myself

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End of round 17: ABS help with TPs/HSs/colonies ends
Currently have 4 treasure (2 from passive income + 1 from plastic flower + 1 from Mammomachines)
Spending 3, banking 1 for next round
Write up that thing for Role
Character audit
Make a flag

[Minescratcher]

The Order of Orders
Comprising
The Sacred Order of Knights of the Ironkelp of First-King John of Ruhum (Orope - Region 114)
The Order of Knights of Dupiopóli (Ektalithiades - Region 113)
The Order of Knights of the Divine Watchful Eye (Ke Yi Ade - Region 127)
The Order of Faithful Knights of the Violet Crown (C'oupé - Region 116)
The Order of Truthseeking Soldiers of Usman (Ruwa Mai Juyawa - Region 118)
The Order of the Blind and Silent Knights (Yuksekale - Region 176)

Here Follow the Records of the Years 10-12 of the Tenure of Grand Master Martin the Young, 41st Grand Master of the Order of Knights
Round 16

Actions:

1. [Diplomacy 10] Proclaim the Order of Orders
With Grand Master Martin now almost fully grown, de Heredia finds himself gradually sidelined. Though he still holds significant influence among the electoral faction, the ad-hoc cross-faction coalition that ousted Oliver a decade ago is gone, and Martin is no longer the pliable child he once was. When the Second Master Albrecht Lasker stands up before the Order mess and demands an immediate end to de Heredia's unlawful assumption of power, there is very nearly a riot, and an embarrassing number of Knights have to be disciplined. de Heredia argues that Martin is still not yet an adult and that a firm hand is still needed, but his position proves insufficiently popular to avoid being voted out by the assembly.

As the first act of his tenure, the now-independent Grand Master Martin begins a reorganization of the Ironkelp Order. Only two generations ago the Order was merely concerned with pilgrimage and trade between the plant-cities of Orope; now they act on a truly global scale, and the Grand Master can easily see how the old institutions have hindered military development and impeded diplomacy. The relatively flat hierarchy of the langues has failed to scale, and though a few Tyrnamoi have joined the Order there is no real recruitment from the regions under Middish governance. The Grand Master therefore declares the formation of new Orders, one for each region of the seas where the Flowing Way holds sway, and of the new Order of Orders, a supranational assembly which will coordinate between the various Orders and handle diplomacy with other powers on their behalf. The Order of Orders is headquartered in Orope, temporarily sharing the halls of the Ironkelp Order until a new suitable location can be found, and takes possession of the Regalis Arbor. The various new sub-Orders within Middish-ruled waters are established with local Middish nobles at their heads who are granted great latitude to devise their own internal organization.

Finally, messengers are sent to the Lux-Glossians, the Cyphiri Union, the Gotezhar, and the Miru-Miru. They bring the same message to each: as sovereign allies and brothers in faith, the Grand Master wishes to found a new Order in their waters to allow those who wish to fight on behalf of the Flowing Way to do so, suggesting the titles of the Order of Knights of the Holy Radiance, the Order of Knights of the Cavern of Arthan, and the Order of Knights of the Clouds of Heaven to the first three recipients respectively. To the Miru-Miru, the Grand Master instead apologizes for his lack of information on their home waters but offers to gladly accept whatever name they find most fitting.

Gain a sixth action and Unification Claims on Region 113, 114, 116, and 118.

2. [Military] Invade [Region 123] using 5 units, led by K.C. Tolmach (10), attempting Quiver Hell's Foundations (+2 to battle), benefiting from Supermarine Artillery (+1 battle, +1 maneuvering), the Middish Way (+1 battle), the Thunderstone Cudgel (+1 battle), and using the Regalis Arbor to Launch units to Cyph-Arel [Region 122] and to Launch Scouts (+2 Maneuvering) for total 5 vs 4 units, +6/+8 Battle, +13 Maneuvering, +2 Leader Loss
The waters on the western side of Death's Passage have become quite strategically valuable, even as the poisonous seas that once lay to their north have been purified. For the Order to fulfill its oath should the community of faithful in Aniwana be attacked, its forces must travel through Death's Passage - and the situation there is completely untenable. Not only is the region itself unstable, the survivors of the Greenwater Clans who have taken refuge there appear to be working to destabilize the Lux-Glossian Shades and certainly cannot be trusted with the safekeeping of the Cyphiri Union. So says the fiery oratory of the Order mess, and the Grand Master is convinced; he dispatches the hero of past Middish wars to fight for the Ironkelp Order one last time. K.C. Tolmach is old, and this may be his last battle, but old age has neither slowed his strategic mind nor sapped his valor, and in the chatter among the Knights as they mount Giantsbane Seeds bound for Cyph-Arel not a single one displays anything but full faith in their commander.

3. [Military] Raise a unit
The Order of Orders begins to show promise, with the Tyrnamoi of Ektalithiades being especially eager to join the Order of Knights of Dupiopóli in the wake of recent Reaver depredations against the Flowing Way.

4. [Faith] Convert [Region 115] HS 1 from Prophetic Histories to Flowing Way: 11

5. [Faith] Convert C'oupé [Region 116] HS 1 from Order of the Violet Crown to Flowing Way: 7
Flowing Way missionaries are dispatched to the north, but meet with little lasting success, as Feirefis sees them as an attempt to undermine his rule and stonewalls them.

Nonactions:

1. Knight Bailiff Francis Angoulême and his close ties to the Lux-Glossian Shades afford the chaplains assigned to his centuries the opportunity to study many formerly unknown technologies - and, of course, should push come to shove, the Knights are fully equipped with their own Giantsbane. Gift Supermarine Artillery to LUX via Cultural Exchange. Receive Electrodialytic Staurozoa, Devolving Standardized Integrations, Filtration Grafts, Traveling Scholars, Bioluminescent Navigation, and Mamomachines from LUX via Cultural Exchange.
2. Regardless of the outcome of the invasion of [Region 123], K.C. Tolmach will certainly die of old age; Dame Bailiff Caitriona MacAilpein succeeds him as Dame Commander of the Scoshlangue. Rename Knight Commander Amlaigh Tolmach to Dame Commander Caitriona MacAilpein.
3. Begin construction on the Forum Comitium Universalis (Monumental Undertaking 1/3)
   
   Spoiler: Forum Comitium Universalis

   Show

   The halls of Orope are insufficient for all the langues of the Ironkelp Order and the needs of the newly founded Order of Orders. The rooted Regalis Arbor is still uncolonized, and with the Order of Orders taking possession of it, work begins on a new assembly hall built among its roots. The name is taken from the old Ruhuman language, symbolizing unity among the diverse members and referencing the old tradition of market-square assemblies under the Empire. Hundreds of bundles of seagrass are brought in day by day, and the enormous spherical outline of the assembly hall itself slowly takes shape. Two long cylindrical wings are built on the east and west; the east wing will serve as dormitories for traveling Knights, while the west wing will be a library dedicated to the annals and minutes of the Order of Orders. Finally, large tapestries depicting the seals of each member Order are commissioned; eventually, they will hang in the assembly hall, above the Knights.

Spoiler: News and Rumors

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• As Grand Master Martin achieves adulthood, so have his brothers Percival and Feirefis. Little news has reached Orope from their waters despite their close kinship with the Grand Master, but with the foundation of the Order of Orders the Grand Master sends messengers to both. Percival is receptive, as he follows the Flowing Way and sees value in having the Middish recommitted to defend the sea cow trade with the Cyphiri, but Feirefis sends the messengers away without an audience. Apparently the ruler of the Batrachs gained the Violet Crown via his mother's claim that he is rightfully the Grand Master of the Ironkelp Order, and relations with C'oupé rapidly grow tense.
  .
• The Ironkelp Order watches events in Leriander with concern. The political upheaval characterized by the appointment of four Grand Matriarchs in three years is extremely worrying, and Knight Bailiff Francis Angoulême is reinforced with a third century from the Frelangue to bring his forces to 300 Knights.

Spoiler: Ruler Information

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Grand Master Martin of Insol, 41st Grand Master of the Order of Knights, etc etc
Current stats
Diplomacy: 10
Military: 4
Economy: 4
Faith: 4
Intrigue: 5
Rolls

New Ruler Next Round? no

Expected Stat Bonuses: +1 Mil, +1 Faith

Spoiler: Other notes

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Generals:

• Knight Commander Amlaigh Tolmach of the Scoshlangue (10) - Tactical Doctrine: Quiver Hell's Foundations (+2 to battle roll)

Units: 5 / 16

Treasure: 0

Resources controlled:

• Region 103: Adventuring Scholars
• Region 114: Giantsbane Seed

Techs:

• Supernatic Propagation
• Trophic Deconvolution
• Megafaunal Tailoring
• Photospore Signalling
• Graduated Symbiosis
• Composite Grafting
• Anoxic Adaptation: Permits actions and troop movement across brackish (green) borders; Requires Composite Grafting, Trophic Deconvolution
• Supermarine Artillery: +1 to battle rolls and +1 to Maneuvering rolls in regions of Depth 0; Requires Giantsbane Seeds, Supernatic Propagation, Photospore Signalling
• Razor Current Netting: +10% enemy casualties and +1 to maneuvering rolls when attacking with a foothold or defending; Requires Glass, Composite Grafting
• Bitter Tourism: Permits actions and troop movement across glacial (black) borders; Requires Heat Sources
• Papershell Draft-Cuttle: Ignore the increased border cost of up to two Brackish borders per round for distance penalty purposes and +1 to Prospect attempts in depth 0 Colony regions; Requires Supernatic Propagation, Anoxic Adaptation
• Electrodialytic Staurozoa: May ignore the increased effective distance from a Briny border up to twice per round, except for distance losses; no requirements
• Devolving Standardized Integrations: Following a victory in battle, the victorious commander gains a +1 to battle rolls for a number of rounds equal to half (rounding down) the number of units the opponent lost; Requires Composite Grafting
• Filtration Grafts: Permits actions and troop movement across toxic (red) borders; Requires Composite Grafting, Filter Feeders
• Traveling Scholars: Roll and drop 1 additional d4 when adopting a new non-dynastic ruler; Requires Talented or Knowledgeable Labor
• Bioluminescent Navigation: Allows traversal of Depth 1 regions; Requires Photospore Signaling
• Mamomachines: For each 3 Treasure spent, receive 1 Treasure at the end of the turn; Requires Graduated Symbiosis

State Religion: The Middish Way of the Flowing Way

• 5 HCs: +1 offensive battle rolls
• 15 HCs: 2d8 to Sway Factions
• 25 HCs: +2 to Leader Loss rolls

Artifacts

• Thunderstone Cudgel: 1/round, +1 to an offensive battle (+2 if the defender benefits from a Fortress) or +1 to convert a holy site of an organized religion (+2 if the defender benefits from a holy order)

The Regalis Arbor

Spoiler: Effects

Show

The Regalis Arbor is rooted to the earth, becoming a Flowing Way Holy Order located in Orope [Region 114]. As a non-action, up to twice per round, the Ironkelp Order may invoke one of the following effects:

• Launch Couriers: When taking an action, the Ironkelp Order may pay 1 region of distance to "skip" from a region that they control and which contains a Flowing Way Holy Order to any non-Wastes region within three (non-Wastes) regions of said owned region for the purpose of effective distance when determining distance penalties or distance losses. The path may then continue on from that region, adding additional regions to the path and increasing the effective distance appropriately as normal. To skip to a Brackish, Toxic, or Glacial region in this way still requires the appropriate technology, but such regions may be skipped over without a technology. This effect may not be applied to rolls for Colonization or Secret actions, but may apply to unit movement for battles; if it is applied to unit movement, the units cannot be intercepted in a region they skipped.
  .
• Launch Scouts: The Ironkelp Order receives a +2 bonus to the Maneuvering roll for a single battle they participate in. The battle must take place in a Depth 0 region within three (non-Waste) regions of a region that they control and which contains a Flowing Way Holy Order. The use of this effect in a battle must be declared before any Interception rolls are made, and this effect may not be applied to Maneuvering rolls to intercept or avoid being intercepted.

Valid Holy Orders: 114

Reputation:

• 1 ABS favor
• 1 DNA favor
• PRS rank 3
• Signatory to the Flowing Peace, alongside the Gotezhar, the Cyphiri Union, and the Lux-Glossian Shades, consisting of the following four terms:
  
  1. The undersigned are committed to the righteous and just conducting of wars, and will therefore forswear: killing or causing egregious harm to noncombatants, including foes who have surrendered; and the use of weapons or technology deemed unnecessarily cruel considering their objective, including those chemical and biological weapons designed to cause a slow and painful death.
  2. The undersigned are committed to enable the collective defense of the faithful of the Flowing Way by soldiers of the faithful, and will therefore not oppose or hinder the movement of Flowing Way troops between territory controlled by signatory powers for defensive purposes.
  3. The undersigned are committed to the dialogue of ideas and the free movement of sages, missionaries, and other wise-creatures, in the interests of widening the Flowing Way and the better interpretation of the divine mysteries, and will therefore support the establishment of new centers of learning and all other conversions to the Flowing Way within their controlled territory to the best of their ability.
  4. The undersigned are committed to the continuing study and proactive investigation of riddles and anomalies, and will prioritize those which one or more signatories reasonably suspect may pose a threat to the faithful.

[bc56]

Pfilghol

Ilgl, The-one-who-builds, an Effulgent Witness
Diplomacy: 3
Military: 6
Economy: 7+1
Faith: 4+1
Intrigue: 1

Regions
The Pfithreef: 132
???: 104
Toxfall Gorge: 105

Actions
Rolls

Military: Raise a Unit


Economy: Buyout 105 TP 1 for Rotweaver Worms
+1 from Sakurado


Economy: Send an Expedition to the Depths of Region 102
+1 from DNA reputation


Faith: Seek Aid on Conversion attempt (divine aid)
2d8 from Sakurado

Faith: Convert Region 104 HC 2
+1 from Sakurado

Spy Actions
Ktloso: [REDACTED]

SKR Cultural Exchange:
Accept Scrying and Draft Cuttles

Non-actions
Support conversions to Sakurado

Prospect Results in 105: Set resource to Rotweaver Worms (3 TPs)

Spoiler: Passive Bonuses

Show

Reputation:
ABS 1: +1 to resist Sack and Coerce
ABS 2: +2 to resist Secret Actions
ABS 3: +1 battle, +1 vs Titans, +1 depth (reqs. hard metal, granted by Core Fragment)
ABS 4: Access all depths, +1 to Defense (+2 at Depth 1 or more)
Effulgent Witness: Immune to Secrets of the Depths if ABS rep 2 or more. +1 die size on actions against Titans.

DNA 1: +1 Explore, Prospect, Colonize

Sakurado: +1 to buyout and convert against Open, 2d8 on Seek Aid

Prestige 1: +1 to press, establish, and promote claims.

1 Perfected TacDoc: +1 maneuvering

Spoiler: Bookkeeping

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Spoiler: Characters

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Olgght - current leader, successful conqueror/unifier. Hungry.
Gtsit - Second-in-command, first to betray. Clever, dangerous. Hungry.
Sigska - Ambitious commander trying to turn the Pfith warriors into "real" soldiers. Charismatic, cheery. Hungry.
Ktloso - Sworn enemy of Gtsit, spymaster. Conniving, ruthless. Hungry.
Dr. Ydottl - Scientist, studies ecology. Nervous, frustrated. Hungry.

Spoiler: Military

Show

Units: 6/9
Generals:
Gtsit the-second-champion: 8. Sea's Opportunity: Defending: enemy takes double battle penalties from terrain, Attacking: transfer battle penalties from terrain to enemy. This tacdoc is perfected: +1 to battle on success
Sigska the First Commander: 7. Just Do Better: +2 to battle.
Military Technologies:
Supermarine Artillery
Razor Current Netting

Spoiler: Economy

Show

Treasure:
5/5
+2/round
Trade Posts Owned:
Luxurious Hides: 101.1
Shiv'rchins: 104.1
Kalask Venom: 107.1 (S)
Mud Diamonds: 108.1
Mineblossom Sponges: 130.1
Kelp: 131.3
War-Jellies: 132.1, 132.CITY (S)
Hard Metal: 132.BASE
Wave Scorpions: 133.3

Economic Techs:
Composite Grafting
Trophic Deconvolution
Anoxic Adaptation
Photophore Signaling
Supernatic Propogation
Megafaunal Tailoring
Graduated Symbiosis
Bitter Tourism
Filtration Grafts
Bioluminescent Navigation
Traveling Scholars
Draft Cuttles
Scrying

Spoiler: Artifacts

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Kela Ein Kamohu: 1/turn +1 to Sack or +1 to battle if win or tie TM, +1 extra if TM victory by 6 or more, -1 leader loss if fail or tie TM.

Imperfect Core Fragment: Always know location and holder of this relic. +4 to resist theft outside of Holy Order, +4 to recover. Ruler Score Maximum increases to 12. Using a score of higher than 10 provokes leader loss (-1 for each additional action with a score over 10 in the round). Battle with a Military Score greater than 10 grants +1 effective unit. May be upgraded as a Faith action which is more effective in Depths.

Spoiler: Spies

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Ktloso: 7

Spoiler: Special

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Gan Kotzim - the Thorn Gardens: ABS base, 132

Shallows Appreciation grand champion!

[Corona]

Most Serene Lojanese Republic
Time: Round 16, Place: Regions 5, 6, 9, 11, 12, 13 and 14
Prime Minister Hoerthd Thnoet
Diplomacy: 10
Military: 10
Economy: 10
Faith: 2
Intrigue: 6

rolls

Actions:

1. [Military]Invade region 15 with:
   
   • General Zabkrew (9) using TD Graceful Show of Force (Sway roll 2d8 + 10 Diplomacy + 1 Prestige)
   • 5 units
   • 2 treasure spent: +1 to battle, +1 mercenary unit, +1 to battle from city Oarngalau
   • Ruler score: +5 to battle
   • Death Commando Conditioning technology: +1 to battle (Siren Extract provided by LSD)
   • Route: 13>15
   
   The Republic's armies are unstoppable. They will conquer all from waste to shining waste, overthrowing barbarian governments and spreading the enlightened rule of law.
   
2. [Military 10]Perfect Tactical Doctrine: Graceful Show of Force
   
   
3. [Diplomacy 10]Create Cultural Identity: The Universal Grease. 2d8 to Buyouts
   
   
   
4. [Diplomacy]Attend coronation of Primarch Petrix
   Trade Indah's Embrace to STC for Supermarine Artillery and Electrodialytic Staurozoa
   Pledge to join the Polar bank in 4 rounds in exchange for the STC making a cultural exchange with LOL
   
   
5. [Diplomacy]Sway merchants in region 8 2d8 + 10 Diplomacy + 1 Prestige - 0 distance = 16
   
   
6. [Economy]Impress merchants in region 9 2d8 (Faith CI) + 10 Economy + 1 Prestige - 0 distance = 22
   
   
   
   
   
   

Non-Actions:
Send GTZ Death Commando Conditioning and Indah's Embrace

Spy secret nonaction... todo

Supply region 11 DI with Kelp Fiber from LSD trade route
Supply LSD with Selachian Mercenaries through trade route
[Renown] A Monumental Undertaking: Roof over Their Heads 3/3...


News and Rumors:

Spoiler: Ruler

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Prime Minister Hoerthd Thnoet
Next round stats:
Diplomacy: 10
Military: 10
Economy: 10
Faith: 2
Intrigue: 6

New ruler next round? No

Note to fellow players: I want to live dangerously, so you may assassinate, kidnap or otherwise ravish my rulers at any time. You don't need to approach me first, surprises are fine too. IC resistance and retaliation will be be offered, of course.

Spoiler: Country Info, last update R11

Show

Actions to take: sway merchants in 8,9, aristo in 15 and other conquests.

Special Actions Available: E10 M10 D10
Special Actions Used: E5 M5 I5 D5

Diplomacy

Spoiler

Show

Region Ownership/Claims/Supports Table to be simplified?


Reputation/Favours To be updated
The Abyssal Stewards: Rep 1, 1 Favours (Expected Change: +1 Rep)
The Chelonian Chora: Rep 0, 0 Favours (Expected Change: None)
The Divine Nacres: Rep 1, 0 Favours (Expected Change: None)
International Prestige: Rep 2, 0 Progress (Expected Change: None)

Cultural Exchanges
Lambent Syndicate
Coral of the Protected Statera RIP

Cultural Identities
Let's Have a Cuppa - 2d8 to Swaying

Military

Spoiler

Show

Units: 9/10 (Expected Change: ??)

• Republican Guards - recruited R1, was destroyed in the 1st invasion of Kaarme, rerecruited R12
• 1st Selachian Battalion - hired R2, looted a temple in Bloodhome, fought in the 1st invasion of Kaarme
• 2nd Selachian Battalion - hired R2
• Black Guards - hired R3, assassinated the Plo'uogoar
• Selachian Elites - gained R7
• Region 13 unit - gained R9
• Sheade Regulars - recruited R10
• Special Operations Forces - recruited R11
• Kaarme Nobles - recruited R11

Generals
Zabkrew - Mil 9, Graceful Show of Force:
+1 to tactical maneuvering
-20% enemy casualties
-20% own casualties
+12 to enemy leader loss roll
+2 to own leader loss roll
You may make a Sway attempt against a randomly determined support in the battlefield region (regardless of the outcome of the battle)

Fortresses
Huurdrav, Lojan

Perfected Tactical Doctrines
None

Military Technologies
Death Commando Conditioning +1 to battle, requires Lamia Extract

Economy

Spoiler

Show

Treasure: 7 (Expected Change: -4+3)
Trade post income: 3 Treasure/round

Trade Posts List to be simplified
Total Owned ?? (?? for Treasure gain)

Cities
Sheade, Lojan - Swaying
Oarngalau, Selach - Battles

Trade Routes
Coral of the Protected Statera RIP
Lambent Syndicate
Lighthouse
Forests of Astral Yearning

Specialised Ships
Losinka Alaku: A Specialized Ship in the form of a Juvenile Reefback with an experienced crew. +4 vs theft, +1 to Explorations and Buyouts made with it.

Civilian Technologies
Megafaunal Tailoring No mechanical effect
Graduated Symbiosis No mechanical effect

Faith

Spoiler

Show

State Faith: Shimmers of Unseen Bane

Faith Holy Sites: lots

Organised Faith Bonuses
+1 Conversions, 2d8 to Impressing

Artefacts
None

Holy Orders
None

Miracles
SUB followers can cross toxic borders.

Intrigue

Spoiler

Show

Spies
Intrigue 7 Spy

Spoiler: Interesting quests

Show

ABS

[Offer] Bounty of the Depths -

(Offer: The Abyssal Stewards are offering Treasure! Benefit: 2 or 5 Treasure. Cost: 1 Favor for 2 Treasure, 2 Favors for 5 Treasure. Duration: Available until the end of Round 15. Details: Available to countries of Reputation -1 or higher. )

[Opportunity] Fueling The Forge -

(Opportunity: Countries may provide Units, Food, Labor, or Heat Sources to repay debts to the Abyssal Stewards. Reward: 1 Favor. Cost: 2 Units or 1 suitable Trade Post per Favor. Deadline: Available indefinitely - desired goods may change over time. Opportunity may disappear with 1 round’s notice. Details: Non-action to gift Units/Trading Posts. May not be used if no Favors are owed. )

CCA

[Action - Faith] Work on a means of unmaking the Dreaming Dead 2/? -

[Request] A Little Less Lonely Road -
(Request: The Chelonian Chora would be delighted to see established countries keeping them company in the Wastes. Reward: +1 Reputation for successfully Exploring or Prospecting a Wastes region. On a Wastes region Prospecting roll of 16 or higher, +1 Favor. Penalty: None. Deadline: Available until the end of round 15. Details: Available to countries with Reputation -2 or higher. Max of +2 Reputation from this request per Country.)

[Opportunity] An Appetite For Abundance -

(Opportunity: Countries may provide Treasure, Luxuries, Esoterica, or Fertilizer to repay debts to the Chelonian Chora. Reward: 1 or more Favors. Cost: 3 Treasure or 1 suitable Trade Post per Favor. Deadline: Available indefinitely - desired goods may change over time. Opportunity may disappear with 1 round’s notice. Details: Non-action to gift Treasure/Trading Posts. May not be used if no Favors are owed.)

Taboo: The Chelonian Chora have a religious vendetta against The Dreaming Dead. Penalty: -2 CCA Reputation for adopting The Dreaming Dead as a state religion; additional -1 CCA Reputation every turn thereafter unless abandoned, which grants +1 CCA Reputation. Duration: Indefinite. Details: None.)

(Task: Cooperate in the creation of the Songline of the Sunlit Seas. Available for Tropical zone countries only. Reward: +2 Favors (max); if Project is completed, additional reward given to all contributors. Penalty: None. Deadline: End of Round 12. Details: 1 Favor earned per sufficient length/content fluff submission fit for inclusion in the Songline. 1 Favor earned for spending a Faith action to contribute to the Project. Fluff submissions will still be accepted and eligible for Favor gains if the project is completed before the request duration expires.)

DNA

[Opportunity] A Need For Knowledge -
(Opportunity: Countries may provide Technologies, Toxins, Exotic Flora, or Exotic Fauna to repay debts to the Divine Nacres. Reward: 1 or more Favors. Cost: 1 previously unknown Technology or 1 suitable Trade Post per Favor. Deadline: Available indefinitely - desired goods may change over time. Opportunity may disappear with 1 round’s notice. Details: Non-action to gift Technology/Trading Posts. May not be used if no Favors are owed.)

[Offer] Survival Of The Fittest -
(Offer: The Divine Nacres are offering to procure Trading Posts for countries they like through means some might consider predatory. Benefit: The Divine Nacres will attempt to Coerce Trading Posts on a country’s behalf. Cost: 1 Favor per Coercion attempt. Duration: Available until the end of Round 15. Details: Normal restrictions on Coercion apply. Available to Reputation 1 or higher countries, and will not target TPs belonging to countries with a higher Reputation than the requesting country - other Organizations are considered to have a Reputation of 2 for this purpose.)

(Circumstance: The Divine Nacres are returning to their traditional seclusion. Benefit: None.Penalty: The TN to Raise Reputation with the Divine Nacres is increased by 2. Additionally, when using a Favor to Raise Reputation, it still requires a roll (though not an action), but the country which spent the favor gains a +2 bonus on said roll. Duration: From the start of round 10 to the end of round 15. Details: None.)

PRS


[Honor] Remarkable Reconstruction -
When a country rebuilds a TP or Holy Site that was destroyed by the Reavers, they may choose to let it enter play Open, rather than under their control. If they do so, they gain +1 Prestige. If a country donates 2 Units as a non-action to a region that lost units to the Reavers, they gain +1 Prestige and the region no longer qualifies for such donations by other countries. If a country successfully Sways or Impresses a Reaved Faction in a region they don’t control, they may choose for it to become Open instead of gaining the Faction’s Support; for every second Faction they restore in this way, they gain +1 Prestige. Special: Any country may rebuild Holy Sites or TPs destroyed by Reavers in uncontrolled regions. If multiple countries donate Units to a region that lost units to the Reavers, they both gain the Prestige, and the region gains the Units from all such donations received.

[Mystique] Renegades, Turnskins, And Defectors -
The first country in each starting zone to successfully Incite Betrayal will gain 1 Prestige. The first rebellion to arise on behalf of a specific country in each starting zone will gain that country 1 Prestige. The successful use of either the Galvanize Partisans Intrigue 5 Special Action or the Spark Claimant Revolt Diplomacy Action will suffice for fulfilling the second half of this opportunity; the Inspire Uprising or Spark Rebellion actions will not.


[Piety] The Religious Community -
(Opportunity: The first country in each starting zone to found a Holy Order will gain 1 Prestige. Duration: End of round 12. Special: If multiple countries in the same starting zone found a Holy Order in the same round before any others, both countries will gain the additional Prestige.)

Indefinite duration effects

[Strife] Big Fish In Small Ponds -

Prestige and PRS Rank will no longer correlate one to one: to reach PRS Rank 3 from PRS Rank 2 will require 2 Prestige, while reaching PRS Rank 4 from PRS Rank 3 will require 3 Prestige. This Prestige does not have to be earned in the same turn. Reaching PRS Rank -3 from PRS Rank -2 requires the loss of 2 Prestige in the same turn. If all available positions at a given PRS Rank are occupied when a new country would reach said rank, the country which gained Prestige least recently has their PRS Rank reduced by 1. Ties are resolved by roll-off with the tying country’s highest respective attributes, with the lowest rolls losing. Changing rulers will no longer result in PRS Rank loss when at PRS Rank 3 or 4, but will reset any accumulated Prestige to 0.
Special: The loss of Prestige still causes a loss of PRS Rank. Gaining Prestige when at PRS Rank 2 or 3 which is insufficient to rise to the next PRS Rank, or gaining Prestige when at PRS Rank 4, still counts for determining which country gained Prestige least recently. Losing PRS Rank resets the clock and clears out any accumulated Prestige which was insufficient to reach the next Rank, and counts as an instance of gaining Prestige for timing purposes only.

[Renown] A Monumental Undertaking -

Can work on one monument or similarly grand project in a region you control as a non-action. This requires a fluff description of the ongoing work, design, difficulties, progress, or similar. Three to four sentences should usually be sufficient. When beginning such a project, must decide on a 3-part project (+1 PRS) or 5-part project (+2 PRS).

[Acclaim] To Greatness -

Sea Power, Empire, Merchant Marine, or Holy Sea -> 1 Prestige. Usurpation results in Prestige loss for the usurped country.

[Honor] Blood, Stone, and Ink - PRS treaties can be made.
[Affluence] Opulent Optics - May spend 5 Wealth as non-action to gain 1 Prestige.
[Mendacity] A Lack Of Commitment - Prestige loss if a country Oppresses a faction in a region on which they have a Confederation claim. Prestige loss if a country backs down from an Ultimatum it has made.

[Notoriety] The Fragility of Fear -
[Ignominy] Stigma, Scandal, and Shame -

Prestige loss will be assigned: experience a rebellion in response to a failed Oppress Faction or Impress Aristocracy action, commit gross atrocities.
Prestige loss may be assigned: forced to acquiesce to a rebellion’s demands, badly lose a battle heavily favored to win, grossly humiliated or suffer a gross embarrassment.
Return captured general: can give -1 PRS to the other party, captured ruler: -2 PRS.