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>>34172518
>Canal

Settling in around the table with some wine and some of your cabinet, plus Maloric who tagged along for some absurd reason, you consider the map that Gnome’s drawn to show her canal proposals. Sarah, Marcus and Maloric just stare in general.

“I’m assuming this is just a rough map,” you say to Gnome.

“Very rough. I’d need to spend a few months with Undine surveying the land – it should be quite fast with some help from Karise, Tsucchi or Taira,” Gnome says, indicating she’s going to need somebody to teleport her around the countryside to survey the canal.

“I don’t understand what this is,” Sarah says, giving you a confused look.

“It’s a canal,” you say. “Or a proposed canal. Transport, even with the modern highways we have, is still quite slow and we miss out on plenty of trade that Ahm could be sending our way. So we construct this and get two benefits.”

Sarah stares at you as Marcus strokes his beard. Maloric speaks up first, though, “You want to build a four hundred mile canal.”

“Four-hundred and thirty,” Gnome corrects. “And the League will probably construct the other half.”

“So our half of the canal will still be as long as the longest canal in the world,” Mal says.

“That’s right and it will mean I will have designed the three longest canals in the world, rather than just the top two,” Gnome says, puffing her chest out.

“This is… this is…” Sarah starts to say, looking excited.

>continued

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>>34172571
“Expensive,” Marcus interrupts, frowning. “The trade benefits are immense but it could take years to recoup our outlays, even with the help of elementals such as Lady Gnome. Is faster travel really this useful?”

“It may be vital,” you say. “We could easily triple the movement speed of our armies – that would enable us to move an army from Harrowmont to Darlesia in two days plus mustering.”

“It only takes six days currently,” Maloric says.

“If we’re fighting somebody like Falwick that four days might matter. Plus, we can expand it as we grow and it’s cumulative,” you say.

“What are the costs and timeframes?” Marcus asks.

“Somewhere between two to four years, depending on resources allocated and complexity,” Gnome says. “I’m not sure of precise expenditure requirements.”

“I can investigate those, but they will be at least 500TBY per year as a bare minimum,” Undine says. “The more work myself and Gnome do, the cheaper it will be.”

“The big decision is whether to go north or south,” Gnome says. “The northern path makes it easier to expand the canal into Termina and Shropham but the southern path means you could run the canal right past Harrowmont. Enormous strategic benefit. I suspect the longer length of the southern path won’t matter too much with the increased number of locks along the top half.”

>Discussion time. A few decisions to make, including whether to even build the canal.

Ask questions etc.

>>34172603
How many more years longer is the construction phase using the southern route?

>>34172603
I think we should go south. In the end being next to Harrowmont is a absurdly useful advantage.

I fully support the southern route. It's economic benefits for Harrowmont, fox village(pls gib name soon), and Darlesia as well as the easy mustering it'll provide south and westward will pretty much pay for itself. Also gives Undine a way to cut large swathes of land in half with her control of water, defense wise it'll be a large boon, forcing armies to take detours, or wash away enemies trying to use our infrastructure to their own benefit.

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>>34172668
None. The two routes only really differ in their benefits and drawbacks. Of course, if you want to then connect Shropham etc to your canal system then it'll end up taking longer if you take the south path than the north path but you'll get the same effect when joining Worremburg etc.

>>34172603
Can we not go both ways?

>>34172692
also do not underestimate the significance of a canal on the growth of cities. any small community or town along it will grow exponentially and i personally would like to see our fortress town become a true capital city

>>34172603
Options for reducing or eliminating costs first, obviously. One option would be to "suggest" that the Taourian mage towers help out with this project for a more reasonable fee, in return for us protecting them from the mage guard. And from being lynched in the street by their own populace.

>>34172716

At double the price and double the time? I mean sure, but it's kind of pointless.

>>34172729
>One option would be to "suggest" that the Taourian mage towers help out with this project for a more reasonable fee, in return for us protecting them from the mage guard. And from being lynched in the street by their own populace.

I think that comes with being part of the Empire as is. What you're suggesting sounds like extortion.

>>34172705
Also will probably fuck up the fortress wall in Crece.

>>34172603
I vote do it, and do it south.

>>34172729
seconded, conscripts as war spoils

>>34172603
I think the southern route will be for the best. It'll help improve Harrowmont's economy by making it a trading stop along the Vitria/Ahm route. Not only do we get superior troop deployment but the capital gets a direct cut of the pie via trade and stop overs. It'll take a little longer to get to Termina etc but we want to encourage whatever merchants are left over to disperse some anyway, so no need to rush on getting the canal up there just yet. I see more benefit going south than north overall.

Any word on petitioning the Nobles in Vitria for funds?

>>34172603
south of course

>>34172749
>I think that comes with being part of the Empire as is. What you're suggesting sounds like extortion.
Eh, its more like a plea bargain. We ignore the fact that half of them probably committed atrocities, and protect them from people who want to point that out, they do some community service.

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>>34172726
Yeah, the canal will have a significant impact on economic growth on the provinces it runs through and those near it (when I finally get around to modelling growth).

>>34172729
Using the Taouran mages (or some of them, at least) to form some units of the Imperial Engineering Corps was a pretty likely option.

>>34172716
You probably will eventually if you keep expanding the canal but right now it's twice as expensive and time-consuming for not much marginal benefit.

>>34172703
>Also gives Undine a way to cut large swathes of land in half with her control of water
Yeah, Undine will be stupidly dangerous near rivers. In fact, with her recent power-up she is stupidly dangerous near rivers.

>>34172785
Next decision, anon.

>>34172812
the provinces the canal runs through will love us for the new ease of livelihood and land value.

what kind of order/control bonuses will we see?

>>34172812
What if we used criminals as a labor force to pay for their crime

>>34172890
Our labor is mostly gonna be mages.

We ultimately are going to have it both north and south. The question is what to build first.

If we build north first, we can immediately expand it into shropam and into farun. which are our two next territories.
If we build south first, we would have to first build the north part before we can expand into that next territory.

That rapid expansion is worth it to go north first.

>>34172890
Magic outstrips manual labor about 9 times out of 10. Besides, digging the canal itself is the easy part, building the locks, bridges, and other bits is the harder time consuming stuff, stuff they likely have no experience with.

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>>34172867
I don't have the slightest clue. I'm still ironing out the particulars of what this grand project will mean.

>>34172890
Most of your excavation work will be done by elementals and mages so using criminals for the complex work such as locks etc is just inviting sabotage. Plus you'd still need to feed and clothes them, shelter them and deal with their piss-poor productivity.

PATH VOTE
>1. Build the canal along the south path past Harrowmont.
>2. Build the canal along the north path past Taour.
>3. Don't build the canal at all.

>>34172971
>1

>>34172809
the problem with that is that the atrocities were too big and we already killed the ones responsible, or at least that is what our PR said. We pushed for "we are sparing those mages because they weren't in on the bad stuff, why, they even helped us with some intelligence before our invasion"

if we now force a "plea bargin" with them it means we are reaccusing them of that which we told everyone they didn't do, and then that we are letting them off with a slap on the wrist

>>34172971
>1. Build the canal along the south path past Harrowmont.

GOTTA GET DAT CASHFLOW SON.

>>34172971
>1.

>>34172971
>1. Build the canal along the south path past Harrowmont.

>>34172971
>1. Build the canal along the south path past Harrowmont.

>>34172971
2

>>34172971
>2. Build the canal along the north path past Taour.

>>34172603
>the southern path means you could run the canal right past Harrowmont. Enormous strategic benefit.
What is the enormous strategic benefit?

>>34172971
>1. Build the canal along the south path past Harrowmont.

>>34172985
or it could be spun as 'while they did not themselves commit the atrocities, they are being given community service for having not stopped them in the first place'

>>34172971
1
we are gonna be so broke man

>>34172971
I had a thought. Since undine and gnome are doing a lot of the heavy lifting here.
will undine be able to build faster if we get her more/max her pops?

>>34172985
>>34173059
Or it could be told to the mages privately what they are doing and why, while we don't tell the public shit.

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>>34173045
It's your military capital. It lets you rapidly transport troops from your capital, resupply quickly, safely and surreptiously move goods into Harrowmont that are ostensibly heading to Vitria or Ahm, could give you a moat, gives Undine access to a huge stretch of water that she can use as a weapon. Probably a bunch more benefits.

>>34173068
Undine's not the bottleneck currently. Gnome is - chances are you'll power her up before the canal is complete, though.

>>34173045
>“It may be vital,” you say. “We could easily triple the movement speed of our armies – that would enable us to move an army from Harrowmont to Darlesia in two days plus mustering.”

Anon you gotta work on that reading thing. It's pretty important.

>>34172971
I think option 4.
build the canal, but only start AFTER reconstruction of darlesia and taour is done.
As it is we have spent an enormous amount of money on the reconstruction and our budget is stretched thin, we need to further expand our military, and any investment into engineering corps could be used to accelerate the reconstruction

>>34173096
Right. This allows us to defend our entire southern frontier with a nodal force stationed at Harrowmount.

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>>34173101
That's already the option - Gnome just said she needs three months to survey. Coincidentally, that coincides with finishing reconstruction (after Gnome finishes her current work with extending Harrowmont's mage tower).

>>34172971
>1. Build the canal along the south path past Harrowmont.

>>34172971
>1

>>34173095
Dude we need a moat
We need a moat with sharks
lots of sharks
SHARKWEEK

>>34173030
>>34173020
test

>>34173101

Our Treasury isn't in horrible shape all things considered. We're still positive in fact. And given this is a multi year operation we can continue to budget it in.

>>34173172
Fund it

>>34173172
>Underwater Griffins with Shark Teeth
FTFY BUDDDY

>>34173095
i see, in that case i am rescinding my vote for 2 here >>34173020
and changing it to 1

I remember reading in middle school that when the Erie canal was built, seafood could be transported across something like hundreds of miles and still be fresh enough. Did you account for that?

>>34173131

As a note of things that are now done the Noble Manors and Mage Tower expansion should both be done soon or already, as the vague fortnight given at Nov 16 would indicate.

Please scene with Mal gushing over his new digs.

>>34173131
I'm tempted to ask Mal to be stretched even further with research and try and make magitech speed boat type transports for freshwater use. Hovertransports yo.

But sadly until we find a way to clone him and our magitech guy I don't think we'll be able to tackle that in a time efficient manner.

>>34173213

>not magically preserving your seafood

Are you some kind of neanderthal?

>>34173196
Amphibious Electric Lazor Gryphon Sharks are the obvious solution.

>>34173131
How vulnerable would the engineers and workers be during war?

Assuming we do go to war enemies would have really convenient fortifications. I think... I don't remeber the last time I saw the map

>>34173263

All of our current fronts are to the North. We won't have to worry about them much, the Marnn mountain range provides a nice buffer. If Falwick should go full crazy to the south then yes we'll have to worry about him, and his attempts to destroy our infrastructure.

>>34173229
>Hoverboat
>In canal
why?
the whole point is that stuff floats on water real gud. you can have a barge with a million tonnes
levitating that kind of weight is ridiculously pointless waste of power (could instead enchant thousands of FMK)

the whole point of a hoverboat is that its used in swamps where there is stuff sticking right out of the water and oftentimes the water is only inchest deep

>>34173258
Good point. I'm also wondering about what people eat in our empire

>>34173307
if falwick does that, we can have taira decimate the farun army in a day by herself, and then relocate all our troops to the border with him

although if we are really really lucky he would be exposed at the head of a small troop and we could get a concentrated hero strike against him
(talon, caitlynn, the elementals, taira, vad, finn, mal) ganging up on him and killing him personally.

>>34173307
Yup. Especially in Meir. That place has no fortifications worth mentioning.

>>34173307
My literal headcanon of Falwick is a fuck huge brute thats always pinkish red from constant anger and forthing at the mouth at all times even when he speaks.

Like literally every time he talks froth flies out in every direction

His helmet is shaped in the form of a snarling dog and he has "Top Dog" painted right on his chest in blood.

>>34173374
>although if we are really really lucky he would be exposed at the head of a small troop
as in, a raiding party we can teleport on top of while he blazes through our infrastructure.

Although obviously this is unlikely

>>34173399
>"Top Dog" painted right on his chest in blood.

I laughed so hard for no reason.

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>>34173226
It's Nov 29th. Gnome finishes her construction on the 4th Dec.

>1.

“The southern route seems to be the best option,” you say. “The strategic benefits of having a canal running through Harrowmont outweigh all other benefits and the benefits the canal will bring to the empire at large outweigh the costs.”

Almost as soon as you finish talking you’re tackled by Sarah in a hug and passionate kiss. It takes you surprisingly long to break the small girl away from you and she’s still just as ecstatic when you manage it.

“A canal from Ahm to Vitria!” she practically squeals in your ear. “The trade benefits alone would be immense, not to mention the strategic benefits. Faster troop transport, cargo transport, arterial canals for construction projects. We could encourage towns and villages to construct their own connections to the canal, making the trade even more efficient. Oh, and-“

“Calm down, Sarah,” Undine and Gnome both say, in very different tones.

Undine continues, giving her grumpy sister a sharp look, “We also need to work out funding. Although you could fund this out of your pocket you are going to have many other projects that need funding and your military expenses are rapidly ballooning. I don’t think anybody would be surprised if you raised a levy for this project.”

“They would be unhappy, though,” Maloric says while Sarah frowns sharply at Undine’s comment. “Nobody likes taxes. You could just fund it through debt and pay it off over time with revenues and taxes. Seems pretty simple for an empire.”

“Why not have some of the existing nobles contribute their wealth to the canal,” Sarah proposes. “They contribute a fraction of the funding and are responsible for that same fraction of maintenance costs. In exchange they receive the same fraction of revenue from the canal.”

>continued

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>>34173435
“Equity in the canal, you mean,” Marcus says. “That would attract funding like moths to a flame but may exacerbate equities. It would also rob the empire of a great deal of revenue that would simply funnel into the hands of those that already stand to gain from the canal.”

“I’m not sure I understood what you were getting at, Lord Marcus,” Sarah said, her voice turning cold as she detects Marcus preparing a verbal assault on her city’s position.

“Taxes are paid by everybody. In fact, the vast majority of taxes are paid by the rural peoples and merchants. Most wealth is held by the nobles, however,” Marcus says and you feel a very hairy topic coming up. “That made sense in Vitria’s past when the noble families provided most of the infrastructure but now that the empire provides it, surely it makes sense that those nobles who would gain from the canal should contribute the levy.”

“Plenty of others would gain from the canal,” Sarah responds but is cut off.

“Perhaps, but they would gain from the new opportunity,” Marcus says. “In Vitria, nobles who already own docks and transport equipment and infrastructure would gain an enormous amount of value overnight from the announcement alone. Make them contribute some proportion of that increase in value to fund the canal.”

“In other words,” you say, “apply a levy to the nobles, probably through property tax increases in cities. Masquerade it as claiming a portion of the capital gain they’re receiving from the canal.”

“I wouldn’t say masquerade,” Marcus says.

“But I would and did. The end,” you say, cutting off that topic. “It would anger the nobles, however, and I’m not sure I want to do that.”

>Discussion on funding choices for a short bit

After this I’ll be doing a Corrfax scene.

>>34173309
>Not wanting Undine riding a tidal wave at the head of a Hoverboat Armada/Calvary charge.

It's like you don't want to be remembered for doing crazy shit.

Nah but seriously cool yer autism mate it was said in jest.

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>>34173399
>His helmet is shaped in the form of a snarling dog and he has "Top Dog" painted right on his chest in blood.
nice headcanon

>>34173391

We won't have to worry about the Feeder provinces I'd say. He'd want to go with the still slightly unstable Darlesia first, dig in at Crece and go after Taour, cutting off the Mage League as well. It lowers morale for TYE and gives him some seriously good places to dig his heels into. He's a borderline legendary General, he knows what he's doing.

>>34173474
Undine floating on a tital wave is FLOATING ON WATER
that isn't a HOVER board which is floating on AIR ABOVE WATER.

hoverboat would be sala and sylph.

>>34173472
TAx the peasants I say

We're emperor not president, we don't have to worry about getting voted out of office for unpopular taxes

>>34173472

Could we offer the deal to lesser families that stand to gain significantly less from the canals building? They'll likely contribute less overall but it would grow some trust.

Seriously we need to get Noble money.

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>>34173435
>>34173472
And if it wasn't obvious, funding through debt just means you would be able to go into a negative treasury balance temporarily. Unless people are actually interested in financial instruments and their implications (economically and technically) - as I said in an email, it's kind of my field but I suspect most people would find it boring as crap.

The choices proposed are basically: general tax increase; let treasury run negative temporarily if necessary; have the nobles fund part of it in exchange for some of the revenue from the canal; tax the nobles.

>>34173472
I want to back Marcus on this one, is there anyway that Sarah could swing this in her/our favor with the nobles though? I'd like to keep from having to butcher the lot of them if we can help it and strengthening her position is always beneficial.

>>34173586

We do have to worry about lowering Law in already low Law territories with what the peasants might see as unfair tax raises. Especially when a lot of them are already rebuilding from the war we are literally 6 months removed from.

>>34173586
But all our peasants are poor and trying to rebuild from the war. We have been recruiting pretty heavily and the area has been in a state of war for decades.

>>34173472
Honestly, they're already pissed at us. It's unwise to piss off a group so badly, especially a moderately powerful one like the landed nobility.
Also, When we're talking Equity, what is the Empire's equity for having Gnome and Undine involved in the project? Their expertise, in design much less their assistance in construction, should give us an outsized share anyway.

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>>34173399
>always pinkish red from constant anger and frothing at the mouth at all times even when he speaks.

>His helmet is shaped in the form of a snarling dog and he has "Top Dog" painted right on his chest in blood.

>every time he talks froth flies out in every direction

Fuck my sides I will now be very disappointed if not at least one of these is true

I WANT PICTURES

>>34173618
general tax increase + tax the nobles

I think we should tax the nobles. After all, What can they do?

>>34173472
I don't think we should let people buy equity on this

This is, first and foremost, funded by the time and effort of undine and gnome. talon's familiar and champion. Secondly funded by the taxpaying farmers. It gives a safe and small investment that raises tremendous wealth later and denies said wealth to the empire (by going to private pockets)

However, what sarah said about towns funding connections to it themselves. This is actually a decent idea and that one CAN extend to vitria. If we build the canal from ahm to our capital and then vitria itself can finance the "last stretch" from vitria to harrowmont.

Although I am inclined to just leave the nobles out of this entirely

>>34173645

I assume that is where the Empire's cut comes in, since they are doing their jobs as familiars of Talon.

We also must not forget Talon ultimately owns the canal, he can technically take back the part that the Vitrian nobles maintain whenever he wants, with or without compensating them. If we later on down the road find it is creating too much of a class disparity, buy it back, and funnel all of the dosh back to the Empire at large. I don't see a reason why we shouldn't at least throw the Nobles a bone, a lot of them dislike Talon as is and have been making Sarah's job harder, which might actively play a part in why she's the weakest link right now.

>>34173684
Well, they have all sorts of links to the knightly orders and mage towers. So a lot.

>>34173684

Rebel, make Sarah's job even harder, sit on their money even more to no aid of the Empire.

>>34173472
Could we propose an early buy in scheme? Certain individuals that pay a predetermined portion of the costs to fund construction of the canal upfront get a Tariff discount and easier access to the canal for an amount of time corresponding to the amount paid upfront? It wouldn't be partial ownership but it'd give concrete rewards for voluntarily pitching in early to help fund the project. If we receive enough upfront then we can lower the amount of taxes set aside and raised for the project. Perhaps give a grace period before early buy in stops and taxation begins?

>>34173595
Thinking you got something there with the lesser nobles.
>>34173618
Could we have lessor nobles help with the funding and have towns that would connect to the canal vote for an increase in tax or something or even a "donation" in exchange for helping fund their connection later?

>>34173776

Oh that's good, I like that.

>>34173692
Basically, we bill it as the "stretegic southern border canal" that runs from darlesia to harrowmont for defense purposes.

Then under sarah's leadership vitria "pushes" to extend the canal from harrowmont to vitria and connect to said canal (since its its own duchy, it can levy a small property tax for this purpose), perhaps after we score a deal with ahm to build their own half of the canal.

This strategic purpose also lowers ire on our northen territories who are missing out on the economic benefits... at least until we extend the canal system there. which we eventually would.

Here's the problem with taxing the Nobles outright. If we do that, they'll just pull the money from their own taxation, might even raise their taxes, so ultimately the peasants of the Duchy will be paying for their part. We need to get at their income directly.

>>34173739
>We also must not forget Talon ultimately owns the canal, he can technically take back the part that the Vitrian nobles maintain whenever he wants
confiscating it is an awful idea as it will set a precedent and prevent us from getting funding in the future.
HOWEVER, what we can do is in the INITIAL funding blitz include a cap on equity after which ownership devolves to state. that is, nobles invest in it, they get a percentage of tariffs based on their investment up to ?x of their initial investment, and then it devolves to the state. They still benefit from its advantages afterwards and it prevents ire from just seizing their property.

actually at that point it doesn't need to be limited to nobles. ANYONE can invest in it. we can call it canal bonds. Buy the canal bonds and over 10 years they will vest into 3x their initial investment value

>>34173881
This sounds excessively complicated. Just allow investment.

>>34173881
Bonds, thats a good idea too.

>>34173881
>confiscating

>>34173739
>with...compensating them
>buy it back

Did you even read the rest of that post?

>>34173815
I believe Ahm building their own half was already a part of the proposal. I'm fond of obfuscating our involvement with the economic implications. If we can make it look like Sarah pushed for the canal to connect to Vitria then we can help her secure support from the nobles though they won't be anymore fond of us. If we can balance it so that we don't make them much more angry but strengthen Sarah's position without actually doing anything different I think it'd be beneficial.

>>34173881
I think having the nobles fund part of it would be good, but on the condition that we can buy back from them their "shares" at the original amount of their investment + some small interest at any time.

>>34173919

>bonds of Talon's bust and the Griffin emblem on them

Close enough to your face on coins Talon, do it.

All this tax and business talk makes me feel like a little kid again

Just sitting on a tall stool kicking his legs back and forth, listening to his parents talk about taxes and bills, not understanding much but still has a smile on his

Just waiting for something he understands

War

>>34173881
bonds i like this idea
canal bonds. to be payed off in a decade, for an unspecified amount
buy a certain amount (affordable but costly) and youre exempt from the draft maybe?

>>34173929
confiscating with compensation is still confiscating

>Hey, invest 1,000,000$ and you will get an asset that pays back 250k a year in perpetuity!
>10 years later, eminent domain it, paying them some compensation (but less than what it is truely worth and what they would ask for) but still seizing it.
even if you pay them for it, they won't be happy to lose this cash cow which they paid for and made a deal with you. In general we should minimize such eminent domain
Especially when there is absolutely no reason for us to not just include it in initial contract
>Hey, invest 1,000,000$ and you will get an asset that pays back 250k a year for 10 years, making you 2,500,000$. at which point it devolves back to state.
>If interested sign at the dotted line
They agreed to it ahead of time, no problem

>>34173881
I like this idea of bonds opening up discounts on use of the canal. It could easily help smaller provinces create wealth for themselves without nobles funding their infrastructure or controlling them through taxes. The small fishing village saves up for a Canal Bond and starts making back money on their exports, raising them out of mudhuts to proper living standards.

>>34173968
>I believe Ahm building their own half was already a part of the proposal.
it was, I was saying that this is basically how we could spin it.

>>34174005
EMINENT DOMAIN BITCH

>>34173987

>War

Anon you had a very strange childhood

Soon.

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>>34173815


>>34173856
>If we do that, they'll just pull the money from their own taxation, might even raise their taxes, so ultimately the peasants of the Duchy will be paying for their part.
They can't actually do that. You appropriated all their agricultural land already and you and Sarah control all trade and sales taxes. The worst they could do is raise prices on their goods and services.

>>34173815
Sarah's strongly opposed to this. "This would provide the nobles a podium to assault me on. There was a technicality around the acquisition of their agricultural land that saw their revenue shares decrease - they no longer needed to administer their land so we decreased their revenue to compensate. My own house didn't need to do this as we were now administering all farmland in the territory - if I have to make expanding the canal a campaign then the Vitrian nobles will do everything possible to make my house pay a larger share than necessary. It will foment dissent rather than the opposite, simply because they know I can't not let the proposal succeed."

In other words, the nobles would actively weaken Sarah's standing in Vitria if you made them fund their own connection. Simply because they know that Sarah couldn't not let the connection happen.

>>34173776
This could work but the amounts you would be getting back might be very, very small relative to the cost of the canal. I'm not sure, to be honest.

>>34173881
I'm not doing detailed bond funding (especially with a few people already tuning out over this simplistic debate). You can assume this sort of thing happens if you let the treasury fall into the red.

>>34174037
I know we CAN do it, I am saying there is no reason we can't just explicitly admit it in the initial contract and avoid a whole lot of grief, anger, and loss of trust.

>>34173991
... Actually, that has me thinking. What if we built in a system to these bonds that inherently creates circular flow? Like, if you sit on these bonds you get the canal discounts, sure, but if you turn them into the empire, you get some kind of imperial favor? Leniency on taxes for X amount of years, this person can avoid the draft, and so on. Might be cool.

>>34173991
I don't think we should have anything that exempts someone from the draft. It's a bit underhanded but drafting a problematic noble's heir into the army as a means of leverage should always be an option left open.

I like the bond idea in general though.

>>34174051
>They can't actually do that. You appropriated all their agricultural land already and you and Sarah control all trade and sales taxes. The worst they could do is raise prices on their goods and services.
Or lean on the Knightly orders and Towers to withhold military support.

>>34174051
>I'm not doing detailed bond funding

>everyone is talking about bonds

I WARNED YOU BRO

>>34174097
True. Most of the Master's and Grandmasters are probably someone important's cousin, if only by marriage.

>>34174051
Alright, with this info in mind, I say we just finance it ourselves via treasury / bonds (if treasury falls into red)

No fancy gimmicks since they will just backfire
No private equity because it denies us of too much future revenue

It is worth noting that since the canal is being built in parts, using it can be started as soon as it has some distance. That is, initially its a vitria to harrowmont canal, then to mier, then olmm... with every additional territory it gains in usefulness

>>34174164
FYI, if the nobles stop causing problems, control and order will increase. If control and order increase, we get more taxes.

>>34174164
>That is, initially its a vitria to harrowmont canal, then to mier, then olmm... with every additional territory it gains in usefulness

I do believe that was part of the plan.

Also I think Aspirational mentioned something about territories beginning work on their sections like Rome use to do. The get inspected by Gnome and Undine, and then connected to the general mass, so we have multiple parts going at once.

>>34174051
I really don't want to drop into the red and don't want to make deals with the nobles.

>>34174051
>They can't actually do that. You appropriated all their agricultural land already and you and Sarah control all trade and sales taxes. The worst they could do is raise prices on their goods and services.
Wait a minute... so before us, the nobles got a steady income from taxing the farmers and other traders that passed through their lands
but now we appropriate all of that they are actually getting their money from businesses they own instead? Huh, we accidentally eliminated robber baronism, neat.

With that in mind, I don't see a reason to hit them further. let them run their businesses and profit from them, and profit from the new canal.

>>34174164
idc anymore

>>34174211
Why the noble hate?

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>>34174097
I was talking about financial consequences, anon. The nobles could do some nasty things with their influence, yes.

>>34174106
People are free to imagine the complicated financial system that exists. I don't want to touch on the effects on the economy of issuing below market rate war bonds, particularly as you already have a bunch of other bonds likely on issue. Or the way you'll repay them etc.

FUNDING VOTE
>1. Fund it yourself, with bonds if the treasury falls into the black.
>2. Increase general taxes enough to cover the costs.
>3. Tax the nobles that stand to gain the most via a special levy.
>4. Let people buy into the canal (equity, in other words).
>5. Custom

>>34174211
remember that its 2-4 years "based on funding"
we can half funding and take 4 years to build it...

incidentally, I think we might want to start off a bit slow on the first year because we need to heavily invest in military which is far more pressing to increase (shropam / mage guard)

>>34174237

That's what I keep trying to figure out.

We can make them work with us with one of the options, it'll improve relations, why not? I've yet to see a reason why we should not do that.

>>34174243
>>4. Let people buy into the canal (equity, in other words).

>>34174243
1
best in long term

>>34174243
>4. Let people buy into the canal (equity, in other words).

>>34174243
>4. Let people buy into the canal (equity, in other words).
>>34174252
Maybe they dislike inherited power on principle?

>>34174237
not that anon, but noble hate would be to tax them specifically
just not making a deal with them for funding means they are still making out like bandits from it, we are just not giving them EXTRA freebies on top of that

>>34174243
>1

>>34174051
Funny enough I find the Bond funding discussion exciting so long as it doesn't drag on too much.

>>34174237
They've been a pain in our ass since we've claimed Vitria and have made it clear they aren't ever going to stop until we get fed up and wreck their shit more permanently.

>>34174243
2 and a bit of 3. Fuck da Nobles.

>>34174283
>>34174293
You realize that this method means we are going to be paying them the most money and the empire making the least money of all the options?

>>34174243
>4. Let people buy into the canal (equity, in other words).

>>34174243
>1. Fund it yourself, with bonds if the treasury falls into the black.

>>34174243
>1. Fund it yourself, with bonds if the treasury falls into the black.

Equity is bad, it means the canals will pay into pockets, rather than funding the empire as a whole, and any equity purchases that will have an impact on the costs of the canal are going to be a huge bit out of the funds we recieve.

>>34174243
>4

>>34174243
my problem with 2 and 3 is that we just CUT taxes to draw in trade and stimulate the conomy.
If in hike taxes back up this will undo that and also be flip flopping

>>34174243
>4. Let people buy into the canal (equity, in other words).
Give the nobles a bone

>>34174303
>They've been a pain in our ass since we've claimed Vitria

>invade their city
>take away their major revenue stream
>begin to recruit from their peasantry
>continue to dick them at every turn

Boy I wonder why.

>>34174243
>4

>>34174243
1

>>34174243
>>1. Fund it yourself, with bonds if the treasury falls into the black.

>>34174353
building the canal is giving them a bone, not taxing them at all for it is giving them a HUGE bone. they are going to be making out like bandits even without equity

>>34174303
Yeah, the nobles seem to be all douches and trash thus I don't want to give them anything they can use against us.

>>34174303
>They've been a pain in our ass since we've claimed Vitria and have made it clear they aren't ever going to stop until we get fed up and wreck their shit more permanently.
That's not even remotely accurate.

>>34174243
>1. Fund it yourself, with bonds if the treasury falls into the black.
>5. Custom
Offer merchants the ability to buy a trade pass for the canal. By buying it now, it would be slightly cheaper for them.

>>34174243
>1

>>34174303
>They've been a pain in our ass since we've claimed Vitria and have made it clear they aren't ever going to stop until we get fed up and wreck their shit more permanently.

That isn't true at all. Any opposition we've encounter has been because of our decisions regardless.

>>34174243
>>4. Let people buy into the canal (equity, in other words).

>>34174366
You forget
>Take away a lot of their power
They used to be able to each individually make laws within their own fief.
We took that away too.

Also, not ALL of them were. remember that the nobles of the vale just flat out joined us via diplomacy, and that the heir of that other great house killed his commander and usurped control of the craol forces to prevent them from flanking us while we took the city
And that our initial spy network was the noble houses loyal to sarah

CONTINUOUS VOTE HERE WE COME.

>>34174393
ooo I like that custom

say we sell 5 year passes, right now you can buy them for something like 60-80% of the full value, and they go into effect as soon as the main canal is completed.

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CONTENTIOUS VOTE

FYI, the nobles will be happy with you if you choose eithe rof these options. The difference is mostly in how much money you'll need to outlay for the canal and how much revenue you'll receive.

OPTION 1
Fund it yourself, with bonds if the treasury falls into the black.

OPTION 2
Let people buy into the canal (equity, in other words). You'll be sacrificing a portion of the canal's revenue to the nobles equal to the portion of the funding they supply.

Rules for voting are to make a post with a link to this post and the number you are voting for. No other text, no greentexting the number. All informal votes will be discarded. Voting window will be five minutes after the first vote.

>>34174446
2

>>34174446
2

>>34174446
1

>>34174446
1

>>34174446
1

>>34174446
2

>>34174446
1

>>34174446
1

>>34174446
abstain

>>34174446
1

>>34174446
2

>>34174446
1

>>34174446
I think it should be noted that if we build the 2nd portion of the Canal in the north we could probably get away with buying back their equity cheaper for obvious reasons.

>>34174446
1

>>34174512
they'd be crazy to sell equity in a canal like we'll be building.

>>34174446
1

>>34174446
2

>>34174446
2

>>34174512
they won't want to sell it back, we will have to forcibly seize it or pay ridiculously high price.
which undoes any favor we gain by throwing them this bone, better to just sell them bonds and get them a fixed profit from that

>>34174446
>Fund it yourself, with bonds if the treasury falls into the black.
I think you mean the red

>>34174565
This.

Oh boy can't wait to go into red, what success we'll have.

>>34174599
I don't either, but this is one of those RARE situations where it is worth it.

>>34174599
Agreed. Especially since we still haven't allocated funds for the production of the factories we are currently building.

>>34174599
Being fair, we can actually afford the 500 tby it'll cost each year.

>>34174642
Production from the factories rather. We've allocated funds for the factories themselves, not the stuff they can build.

>>34174599
With the profits we'll make on this, we'll be glad that we didn't sell part of the rights away once it's done.

>>34174662
>>34174642
recall that a MASSIVE amount of our income went on one time investment in factory construction and in city reconstruction, without those two we are solidly back into a surplus even WITH the canal and full allocation to factory production (building the factories is far more costly then running them)

>>34174662
We can probably pay off our debts selling AA gear to the Magi League if need be.

>>34174644

I have my doubts about that when we're factoring in the new garrisons, Foundries, war time funding, etc. We're going to sit in the red for a bit.

>>34174676
that too, listen to markus, he said that we are going to make massive profit here and that any equity we sell is going to lose us a bunch of money. guy knows his investments.

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>>34174582
Nah, I'm all for loading up with debt when I can already afford all existing outlays.

>1.

“I’m not going to tax the general populace – not after the recent wars,” you say, frowning. “I’m also not willing to anger the nobles any more than necessary by taxing them more. I’m certainly not offering them equity in the canal given how much most nobles stand to gain as is.”

“So you’ll just let us go into debt?” Sarah says, frowning in return.

“If we do well at conquest and keep growing then it’s not like it’s going to matter very much in the long run,” Maloric says. “Then we can just swim in money coming downstream through the canal.”

“It’s an artificial canal, Mal,” you say. “It doesn’t have a downstream.”

“Technically…” Gnome starts to say and the meeting descends into the farcical rather quickly.

You find yourself stretching out afterwards, dinner only a few hours away. You decide to kill the time by….

>1. Talking to Corrfax, the faux-pattern familiar you brought back from Ahm.
>2. Talk to Karise about visiting her foxes.
>3. Try to contact Alyce about your alliance and your new proposal.
>4. Custom

The main session is effectively over. I’ll probably be doing lighter stuff for a few hours or until player interest subsides.

Next thread is on August 22nd at 6:30pm EDT. Instead of the Item of Power sidestory I planned it’s going to be a Finn thread while he leads a team of knights on a raid in Farun.

>>34174719
I would prefer not to sell our weapon secrets to anyone

>>34174737
>3. Try to contact Alyce about your alliance and your new proposal.
Tease the archmage

>>34174737
1
time for corrfax

>>34174737
>1. Talking to Corrfax, the faux-pattern familiar you brought back from Ahm.
Man I'd like to do 2 as well but, Corrfax hasn't had anytime and I'm curious to learn more about him.

>>34174719

I actually think they're the last people that would be interested. The AAs compensate for our lack of artillery that mages bring to the table, something that they have in spades.

The RSK would probably be all about it though, but well yeah.

>>34174737
>1. Talking to Corrfax, the faux-pattern familiar you brought back from Ahm.

>>34174737
>1. Talking to Corrfax, the faux-pattern familiar you brought back from Ahm.

>>34174737
1. Talk to Corrfax

4. Talk to Felix to avoid innevitable betrayal due to inferiority complex.

>>34174760
You do realize that the archmage is loaning us machinists? Who are probably going to notice the "secret weapon" the instant they walk into a foundry?
>>34174772
Marriage proposal jokes.

>>34174737
1

>>34174737
1

>>34174737
>Next thread is on August 22nd at 6:30pm EDT. Instead of the Item of Power sidestory I planned it’s going to be a Finn thread while he leads a team of knights on a raid in Farun.
Will we defeat a princess and rescue a dragon?

>>34174828
>4. Talk to Felix to avoid innevitable betrayal due to inferiority complex.

Man I'd love a good Felix scene some time soon, get his feelings on being incorporating into the Royal Order or not. Among other things.

>>34174737
>2. Talk to Karise about visiting her foxes.

>>34174737
>Instead of the Item of Power sidestory

No decimating the weak...

>it’s going to be a Finn thread while he leads a team of knights on a raid in Farun.

NEVER MIND.

>>34174831
She is loaning us machinists to run the darlesia and taour foundries.
We are manufacturing the AA in the vitria foundry

Doesn't the taour one have the HMK plate? which taour "acquired" from RSK and was designed by RSK to counter mages and that the magi league does NOT have access to as of yet?

>>34174860
our dragon already defeated a princess (dragon princess)

>>34174893
>She is loaning us machinists to run the darlesia and taour foundries.
Yup. Guess what the Darlesia factory is making?

>>34174860

That sounds adorable. Fund it.

Actually fund any adventures that involve Finn being adorable and awesome.

>>34174831
>>34174893
>>34174925

I would make an assumption that based on the deal we have with Alyce they won't be able to share state secrets like that. They'd have to buy or trade it if they wanted it.

>>34174943
or reverse engineer it.

>>34174969

Ehhh that's a questionable move on their part at best.

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>1.

You decide to pay Corrfax a visit in your spare time. The enormous metal chimera has been lurking about the enormous chamber that leads to the Source. When you enter the room without escort his eyes light up.

“It is unusual to see you unaccompanied, Imperator,” Corrfax asks, his booming voice resounding throughout the chamber. “Has something untoward occurred?”

“No, nothing is wrong, Corrfax,” you say.

“I see. Then what is your reason for coming here?” he responds and you get the feeling he’s testing you.

>Your response?

>>34175090
How are you settling in? Is Harrowmont an improvement for you?

>>34175090
"I want you to join my harem."

>>34175090
Ask him if he wants anything for himself or for the defense of the source.

>>34175090

Seeking something. You just happened to be along the way, walk with me to the Source, I would hear about you in more depth.

>>34175140
kek

>>34175140
WOAH WOAH VOLVO! no

Rolled 8 (1d20)

>>34175140
Seconded Not really though

>>34175134
Supportan' as well.

>>34175090
See how he's adjusting to his new job. See if he's met anyone that interests him since he got here. Ask if he would like anything to help alleviate boredom such as puzzles or books (perhaps a book of riddles...).

I assume he sees Gnome and Undine plenty since they meditate here. Wonder if he has ever spoken to them in any depth.

>>34175203
Oh we should also probably check to see if he's eaten anyone yet or warded off any intruders. Ya know, just in case.

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>amalgamation of write-ins

“I’m heading to the Source. I’d appreciate if you could follow and talk with me,” you say, receiving what you believe to be a nod in return. “With that said, how are you settling in? Have you found this better or worse than your old labyrinth.”

“It is an improvement, yes,” comes Corrfax’s voice from just behind you as you step past him. “I have company here. Your familiar – the earth elemental – comes down here almost daily to rejuvenate herself. Many other women come past to visit the hot springs to rejuvenate in another way – sometimes they stop and talk with me. You should speak with that golden fox of yours – she is not always very appropriately dressed when she comes down here. Your pet dragons are also likely to murder each other in their sleep. You might wish to see to that.”

You do your best not to burst out laughing as Corrfax… gives you the latest gossip, really. He somehow follows you downstairs to the Source vault, glowing runes on his feet indicating some form of magic to enable him to descend and ascend stairs. It’s rather obvious that Corrfax is both enjoying talkative company and having a master again.

“I’m glad to see you’re enjoying yourself, Corrfax,” you say, the chimera giving you what you translate to be a ‘gruff’ look in response to your statement that he’s enjoying himself. Such an old man, this chimera. His complaint about Taira had been because she’d hadn’t been wearing her robe completely bound up as was expected, causing her to show some skin.

>continued

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>>34175417
“With the important business out of the way, have you encountered any unauthorised intruders?” you ask.

“None, so far as I can tell. I worried that you may be a doppelganger at first but your behaviour has soothed that concern,” Corrfax says.

You blink and stare at him. “How would you be able to tell?”

“One of the concepts tying me to this guardian form is the ability to discern social patterns. With enough interaction I am often able to determine whether someone is troubled, lying or not truly themselves. It is not perfect but more than serviceable.”

Well, that was interesting titbit to learn – and a good explanation for why Corrfax spent so much time making idle chatter. He was improving his ability to read you. Certainly a fascinating trick.

“Is there anything I can do to help you?” you ask.

“Not particularly,” he says.

“No problems with boredom?”

“I have plenty of visitors and your mage left me a set of cards,” he says. You try not to think too hard about how Corrfax plays cards.

You’re at something of a loss now. Corrfax was a little... different than you’d expected. Certainly a capable guard, even if he had his own eccentricities.

>Anything else to say to Corrfax?

Also, one anon seemed to want to do something at the Source itself.

>old man Corrfax

This is amazing.

>>34175437
do you know anything about the process involved in your own creation?

can you be modified or replicated?

>>34175437
Corrfax do you wish to fly? (transition into talk about his history, if he knows anything about his construction)

>Also, one anon seemed to want to do something at the Source itself.

Practice meditation. Reflect on everything that is to come and has happened. Center himself with some, basically, alone time for the first time in awhile.

>>34175437
Did he mention a distaste for becoming a familiar again in the future? We could always keep an eye out in the future for appropriate candidates. Admittedly I kind of want him to be near the Source and acting as guardian as much as possible.

>>34175503
Yeah any ideas for places to learn about patterns and such would be nice if he had any knowledge on such things.

>>34175532
Meditation sounds nice.

>>34175437
You know what? Ask him if he has any recommendations for further security upgrades we can make within reason. He's been a guard a long time, he might just know a thing or two we don't.

>>34175591
good call

>>34175532
>Meditation
ah yes. Calm peaceful meditation on all things that have transpired.


WHAT THE HELL ARE WEEEEEEEEE
ARRRRRRGGGGHHHHHH

>>34175503
he mentioned before that he doesn't like to be prodded and studied like a lab animal

rather then specifically his own creation, you should ask about patterns in general. if he ever got to study them with his master. that way you are treating him as a fellow researcher rather then as a test subject.

>>34175648
Fair point.

>>34175554
>Did he mention a distaste for becoming a familiar again in the future? We could always keep an eye out in the future for appropriate candidates. Admittedly I kind of want him to be near the Source and acting as guardian as much as possible.
talon can't power him, very few people can.
he is a top tier artificial pattern. artificial means he is significantly less efficient than natural patterns like elementals (aka, he is a power hog)
and top tier means what it says.

So, very few individuals in the world could power him as a familiar and talon isn't one of them
this is why we got him to the source instead

>>34175648
actually. rather then just patterns, we could ask if he ever did research with his old master.
a mage that famous and powerful... well, any of his notes are bound to be interesting

>>34175638
Calm down we're obviously Blackwater

>>34175648
>>34175718
both are me btw.
although in retrospect, this is something that is better for someone else to ask since talon is not really into research himself.

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>amalgamation of write-ins

Leaning against the wall, you continue to question Corrfax, “Do you have no interest in becoming a familiar again?”

“It is not about interest but possibility. I spoke with your mage about this and am in agreeance,” Corrfax says, his eyes winking out as he seems to rest in the entrance, blocking passage. “Just as my old master could not actually sustain my strength, so can few new masters. I am in full recognisance of my own failings as a creation – no mere man or woman could sustain such an inefficiency as myself and I would not wish to task an individual of the greatness capable of such.”

It takes you longer than you expected to parse Corrfax’s speech – you’re rather skilled at a number of dialects, having picked up a knack for the primary languages of the continent amongst humans, but Corrfax’s speech is archaic rather than formal and throws you.

“You seem to know a great deal about your creation,” you start to say before being cut-off.

“I know a great deal about what I am, not how I came to be,” Corrfax says, interrupting you with a snort. “Your mage asked the same question and my answer is unchanged – my master was largely self-learnt, aided by numerous books he has sequestered away with himself. He dabbled in many disciplines and most of his library has no doubt been pillaged. All I can assuredly say is that his research into patterns, and myself, had little to do with his work on constructs and other magicks. His books seemed largely concerned with other matters than pattern, which is perhaps why he failed in his creation of myself.”

>continued

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>>34175890
You nod, frowning at the thought of magical textbooks on constructs and other powerful magicks being looted from a place such as Ahm. You could only hope they wound up in the libraries of mages such as Alyce, who knew how to handle such power responsibly, or the protective wards of the Mage Guard, where those such as Sylvian could keep the knowledge safe from foolhardy mages convinced they were God.

“What of protections? You seemed to have guarded your master’s resting place for so long, surely you know of some weaknesses they may exploit here?” you ask.

“I feel it is too easy to get down here. I find myself testing every person who enters this chamber as it is the main gateway to many of the rooms on this floor and contains most of your vaults. Sequester the entrance to your most valuable vault so that I might best protect it – in doing so you can also place specific wards around it to protect against other intrusions.”

“Won’t that rob you of your company, Corrfax?” you ask.

>continued

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>>34175910
“I can wander more freely in less dangerous times – and spend less of my mental effort testing random individuals out of fear they may attempt to strike at your weakest point,” he rejoinders.

You nod at that, making a mental note about talking to Gnome about restricting the main chamber of this floor as Corrfax suggested. The Source was unknown during the construction of this fortress, after all, and was never secured properly. You then settle in to meditate, considering recent circumstances. Some alone time, Corrfax notwithstanding, is welcome. You don’t truly accomplish much but feel that little bit more calm as you leave, hours later. The power of the Source had ebbed around you but nothing of any consequence had happened. As you leave you decide to have dinner with…

>1. Gnome, Sala and Undine. You know that the three sisters are playing about in one of the rooms on the top floor.
>2. Finn and Rayza. These two had been using the main dining room lately. As everybody else was busy elsewhere they should be alone.
>3. Taira, Karise and Tsucchi. The three foxy women were up to something, you felt. It was probably just chatter about you and Ren, though.
>4. Custom

>>34175945
>>3. Taira, Karise and Tsucchi. The three foxy women were up to something, you felt. It was probably just chatter about you and Ren, though.

>>34175945
>1. Gnome, Sala and Undine. You know that the three sisters are playing about in one of the rooms on the top floor.

Corrfax suddenly jumped on in my list of interesting characters, his views on things makes me sad. I want to help him now.

Rolled 3 (1d20)

>>34175945
>>2. Finn and Rayza. These two had been using the main dining room lately. As everybody else was busy elsewhere they should be alone.

ADULT SUPERVISION! OF THE IMPERIAL VARIETY!

>>34175945
1

>>34175945
Hmm... Finn is probably being teased incessantly by Rayza, The fox Trio are probably up to gossip and we've given fluffy tails quite a lot of attention lately. Let's check on the sisters.

>1. Gnome, Sala and Undine. You know that the three sisters are playing about in one of the rooms on the top floor.

See what had Gnome so grumpy too boot.

>>34175945
>4
Mal

Need a little more best bro and shit talking in my lofe

>>34175987
Heh. "I thought you said you'd give the boy a month before next you pounced."

>>34176039
>lofe

I need sleep

>>34175945
I already voted for 1.
But it occurs to me that Lynn seemed somewhat upset at getting that beating from us.
And I do feel kinda bad for going too far and injuring her.

>>34176039
speaking of bros, vad has been a real bro to us and we have really been neglecting him

>>34175945
>>3. Taira, Karise and Tsucchi. The three foxy women were up to something, you felt. It was probably just chatter about you and Ren, though.
so much fluffy tail stroking

>>34176073
>Vad

Nah I think Talon's still a little tore up about last time.

>>34176099
why? we totally deserved it and it was hilarious.
and he more than made up for it by keeping us from doing something stupid with ren
also, he got another fluffy tail girl to come over here as ambassador

>>34176073
Sadly it's hard to portion out significant char development time outside of the harem.

>>34176099
And we wouldn't want to needle the situation with Vad anyway. Things could get prickly.

>>34176144
>we will never spike Vads drink and sate the gayanons desires

>>34176208
that is rape anon

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>>34176125
>also, he got another fluffy tail girl to come over here as ambassador
I'm surprised nobody's wondered who Noah is, actually.

>1.

The foxes probably weren’t saying much of interest and you’d stroked your fair share of tails today. In fact, you’d been stroking so many tails lately that you were worried that you might need to expand your harem – many of the foxes were cute but that was far too much complication right now. Finn was off-limits, mostly because you didn’t want to walk in on him while Rayza was underneath the table with him – he would probably get embarrassed and stop her.

That left the elemental sisters, who were currently arguing over what to have for dinner.

“Pasta,” Undine was saying once you entered. You get the feeling she was remembering the wrong part of your compliment for her when she first tried pasta.

“Steak,” Gnome was also saying, clearly thinking about little more than being fed by you.

“I don’t care – I just want food,” Sala whines, giving you a pleading look to break up the argument.

Well, you had promised the girls a particular variety of food long ago. Maybe that could be a peace offering.

>1. Side with Gnome. Steak it is, even if you had to feed every piece to each sister, one-by-one.
>2. Side with Undine. Pasta – preferably something she hadn’t already had. The other sisters would probably give you a death glare as you unconsciously fawn over their younger sister, however.
>3. Mystery Pharos dish you promised Undine and Gnome.
>4. Custom

>>34176362
>I'm surprised nobody's wondered who Noah is, actually.

Vad's sister?

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>>34176372
Yes.

>>34176362
>3. Mystery Pharos dish you promised Undine and Gnome.

I completely forgot that scene happened so long ago.

>>34176362
>I'm surprised nobody's wondered who Noah is, actually.
At first I did, but then I had this very strong "sense" that I heard her name before and that she is vad's sister so i let it go without asking

>>34176362
>>2. Side with Undine. Pasta – preferably something she hadn’t already had. The other sisters would probably give you a death glare as you unconsciously fawn over their younger sister, however.

>>34176362
Pasta and steak is a pretty good combo actually...
But no, lets go with
>3. Mystery Pharos dish you promised Undine and Gnome.

>>34176362
>3. Mystery Pharos dish you promised Undine and Gnome

>>34176362
>3. Mystery Pharos dish you promised Undine and Gnome.

It's a good neutral option and we get to keep a promise! Though do we have a reliable way to get such a food? Maybe we should crash the fluffy tail party and get one of them to find a good cook.

>>34176376

>Ren shagging a 4-tailed fox

I wonder how old she was.

>>34176488
>She only had three tails at the time.

As expected of a man from the east.

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>>34176488
About the same age Sarnn is now.

>>34176449
It's just yakiniku. All you need is a griddle and thinly sliced raw meat.

>3.

“You know, I did promise a long time ago that I would let both Gnome and Undine try a new Pharos dish,” you say, immediately catching the attention of the arguing sisters.

“I’ll just slip out and get the ingredients for that,” you say, practically running out of the room as the three sisters remember how hungry they are.

It doesn’t take long to snap up Vad, a whole lot of raw meat (thinly sliced) and a portable griddle. Nate had tagged along, interested in the dish. As you spread everything around the dining table you try to ignore the odd looks you’re getting from the three sisters and Nate. Vad looks pretty smug.

“It feels pretty awesome to know something they don’t,” he whispers to you as you lay out everything for the dish and get the griddle ready. The table is still full of confusion, made very pointed by Sala’s constant whining about how she won’t eat raw meat. Once the griddle is ready...

“Basically, you just fry the meat on the griddle yourself,” you say, demonstrating clearly by frying a thing slice of beef. “Then you dip it in some sauce and eat it.”

While you and Vad chomp down on some beef coated in garlic sauce, the other girls watch. Then they start to eat. It doesn’t take long before the sisters realise this is the perfect meal for you to feed them. You…

>1. Feed Gnome.
>2. Feed Undine.
>3. Feed Salamander.
>4. Feed all of them, one-by-one.
>5. Custom

>>34176686
>4. Feed all of them, one-by-one.
>5. And tease Vad by offering to feed him as well.

>>34176686
>4. Feed all of them, one-by-one.

I'd be tempted to joke around by offering to feed Vad but Nate's here. We should strike up a convo bout his sis while we're feeding the hungry chicks.

>>34176731

Only because it would be hysterical, supporting.

>>34176686
>>4. Feed all of them, one-by-one.

>>34176731
>>34176744
Guize, guize, not in front of his grill. Also the woman he's romantically involved in is here too. Let's stick to the bro code for now.

>>34176731
seconding

>>34176686
Feed Everyone!

>>34176771
>implying we didn't do the same exact thing with Mal before

It was great fun then, it'll be great fun now.

>>34176686
>Custom
get them to feed you.

>>34176771
I have to agree with this bronon

>>34176731
This! :P

>>34176808

This is even better!

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NEW VOTE
>1. Feed all of the sisters. Plus feed Vad in front of his girlfriend (Nate).
>2. Just feed all of the sisters. Leave Vad alone.
>3. Have the sisters feed you.
>4. Custom

>>34176884
>1. Feed all of the sisters. Plus feed Vad in front of his girlfriend (Nate).

>>34176884
>>1. Feed all of the sisters. Plus feed Vad in front of his girlfriend (Nate).

Hahaha

>>34176884
>>3. Have the sisters feed you.

>>34176884
>2. Just feed all of the sisters. Leave Vad alone.

>>34176884
>1

The sheer amount of cruelty we put him through. I hope he catches on we're fucking around and goes with it.

>>34176884
>3. Have the sisters feed you.

>>34176884
>3. Have the sisters feed you.

>>34176884
>1. Feed all of the sisters. Plus feed Vad in front of his girlfriend (Nate).

>>34176884
can we do both 2 and 3?

>>34176974
by that i mean 2 then 3

>>34176884
Well if we end up doing 1 I can only hope it gets him the Sarnn effect.

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Yeah, the specific phrasing was kind of intentional. You’ll understand what I mean when you get to it.

>4. Plus feeding Vad

Feeding each of the sisters one by one is hard work, mostly because they keep stealing each other’s food. You stay right the hell away from the minefield of trying to prevent them from chomping at each other. Especially because it’s running along the most ridiculous lines – Undine doesn’t care when you feed Gnome but gets very upset whenever you feed Sala, whereas Sala gets upset whenever you feed Gnome. Gnome just tries to eat everything you take off the grill, the size of her chest relative to her sisters being a very clear indication of her pride and need to show herself to be the ‘best’ sister.

Honestly, these sisters…

When you find your fork uncontested, the three sister busy staring each other down, you decide to have a bit of extra fun. Holding the fork, some grilled beef dangling from it, in front of Vad’s face, you try not to burst into laughter at the look of abject horror on his face.

“Go ahead, Vad, don’t be mean,” Nate says, causing Vad’s horror to grow.

>continued

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>>34177134
As you slowly move the fork closer to Vad’s mouth you desperately hold in your laughter. His face grow ever more terrified at the possibility of eating food from that fork. Then Nate strokes one of his tails, his mouth opening in surprise and your beef finds its way inside his mouth. Vad nearly chokes from surprise, the beef being slightly longer than he expected. You watch on with a hint of smugness as Nate helps him take the beef all the way down his throat, giving her boyfriend a bit more closeness than he was getting earlier. And a quick feel if you’re right about where his hand is wandering.

You don’t get too much time to bask in your smugness at successfully screwing with Vad once again as you find three forks thrust in front of your mouth. Each of the sisters is giving you a determined glare, confident that you’ll choose their fork over another sisters’. You gulp.

“Bad Talon,” Gnome says, admonishing you for showing Vad more attention than she got.

>That’s the thread

Next thread is on August 22nd at 6:30pm EDT. It will be a Finn thread, where he leads a team on knight on the Farun battlefront. Poor Finn.

I’ll be around for chatter and questions as usual. Note the thread likely won’t last for very long given how close we are to the bump limit.

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>>34177154
Oh, and I'd appreciate feedback on the GDoc sheet and my use of pictures for the troops/maps etc. Not sure if things were better or worse with those.

>>34177154
My sides have sailed the great sea to conquer their own empire.

>>34177154
haha, very nice.
>Each of the sisters is giving you a determined glare, confident that you’ll choose their fork over another sisters’. You gulp.
hehe
I knew this was gonna happen the moment I made the suggestion

I'm dying. Fucking with Vad is the best.

>>34177176
GDocs were good, I noticed them last night, it's nice to have that info easily on hand. I was the one that asked about the Optimal troop number thing, could you go into that and what determines how many troops a character can command and the penalties for not staying in your comfort zone?

>>34177176

I think the pictures helped it be a lot more concise and accessible. Posting all of that information without the format would have been a nightmare trying to read.

>>34177154
>>34177176

Great thread man. Got a lot done today, plus some fun stuff. Can't wait for Finn wrecking shit next week.

It occurs to me... compagnom might end up uniting with farun against us rather then waiting for us to take farun and then turn on them...
then again, they might be putting their faith at mage guard protection.

something we should keep in mind and keep track of so that we can intercede if need be.

>>34177176
the gdoc sheet looks good
but what do you mean pictures for troops maps? latest map is still using the same pictures as from a bunch of threads ago (which are good, just not a new thing)

>>34177307

I'd hope that Termina's forces are competent enough to check Compagnon and prevent them from sending help to each other.

If not, we need to have words with that king.

>>34177332
He can't really prevent them from sending troops...
what he CAN do is flank them and take compagnom if they do send troops

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>>34177237
>I was the one that asked about the Optimal troop number thing, could you go into that and what determines how many troops a character can command and the penalties for not staying in your comfort zone?
The mechanical effects of being between your optimal and effective command ranges are only around which of your abilities can effect what troops. Most abilities will mention 'troops under your effective' command or similar which indicates their limitations. There is an additional penalty to leadership for going beyond your effective troop command - basically, you shouldn't be giving commanders more troops than their effective command (though I'll waver tiny breaches of the amounts for my own sanity).

With that said, there may be some situational difference with commanders having more troops than their optimal amount - less rolls and less options. They may make some different decisions, too. Even without his ability, Arail would shift from a raiding mindset to a proper battle mindset with enough troops under his command.

>>34177325
I mean stuff like the pictures at:
>>34166751
>>34166885
>>34166930

>>34177332
>>34177345
PS. I got the impression that he is more of a statesman than a general.
thats ok, we have several generals over there

>>34177365

I'd like another statesman on the cabinet. (Sorry, beating a deadhorse here) I like Sarah a lot, but she clearly has some biases and it's always good to get a more balanced perspective.

>>34177405
It was surpirsing she got so catty with Marcus, she should realize that we can't just favor Vitria constantly if we want a healthy empire. We've already committed to wiping out their major competition in the area instead of taking a peaceable deal from those merchants.

>>34177365
I got the impression he fancied himself a warrior king and wanted to conquer shit but realized he was going to get steamrolled if he opposed the empire. He's probably at least somewhat capable of a statesman but I didn't get the impression that was his strong suit.

>>34177461

Eh, she's been catty on quite a few occasions. The encounter with the Princess and the Compagnon discussions come to mind.

She's still a 18 year old girl in love. There are some areas where she'll be deficient in. And I say this as someone who likes Sarah a lot.

>>34177362
I see now, a zoomed in crop of the relevant map segment as well as screencaps of the relevent segment of the gdoc spreadsheet
Yea, those are both pretty useful as they give a focused "at a glance" thing of exactly what we are dealing with.
And if someone wants they can always look at the full map/spreadsheet.

so, yea, I approve.

>>34177484
same here, I really like her but I recognize her limitations.

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>>34177461
Eh, you were proposing a grand project that would enormously favour Vitria and Marcus was proposing wiping out a large amount of those gains. You saw the same thing when she got defensive over the proposal to have her champion a section of it - as much as she wants to rule Vitria under you, she also wants to rule Vitria by herself (i.e. not because nobody dares to oppose you).

>>34177365
Lyyph is a competent statesman who wants to be a general. >>34177476 is pretty accurate.

>>34177484
>>34177514
I am amazed at the degree to which the attitude towards Sarah has changed since she was introduced. Given the strong negative reaction to Ren, I wonder how somebody of the less fair sex will fare.

>>34177639
>I am amazed at the degree to which the attitude towards Sarah has changed since she was introduced.

I was rolling the first time Undine sassed her. Sassy Undine is the best.

>>34177639
I think we can bro it up with Ren eventually. We just have to call him on his shit if it comes up. I'm disappointed I didn't make it in time for that conversation because I wanted to grill him on leaving the other clans to twist in the wind in order to advance his own clan with the empire.

As for Sarah, I didn't dislike her but I personally find Vitria to be way to cumbersome currently. Despite loving sassy Undine I'm glad we treated Sarah pretty fairly and took steps to have her rule Vitria. Though in fairness I'm one of the more vocal anti noble anons so I have a bias. I'd love to help her secure her powerbase because then she'll be a little less pushy for Vitrian interests I think. I just can't think of any good ways to do that (that doesn't overly benefit the nobles, by which I mean the nobles that don't support us).

>>34177639
I missed that part sadly, I really didn't get all the hostility against ren. he seemed perfectly reasonable

i don't think its her being a woman so much as her being talon's girlfriend (well, one of them)

>>34177755
>because I wanted to grill him on leaving the other clans to twist in the wind in order to advance his own clan with the empire.

Honestly, I get the sense he only wants to advance his clan because he's in charge of it. I'd be willing to wager he doesn't actually care about more than a dozen of them.

>>34177639

I honestly still dislike Sarah. Find her quite boring and I think the relationship Talon has with her is detrimental to his success in working with Vitria and her competency overall.

>>34177786
She's practically the only thing keeping our administration running. I don't really disagree that our relationship with her muddles things and puts Talon in an unfavorable position though. Maybe we'll have a chance to talk more about her plans for Vitria in the future and see about smoothing relations.

>>34177786
i will admit there are drawbacks
but please remember that we are really strapped for administration which sarah and her people handle.
and vitria is a serious economic city and of our 3 major cities is the only one that hasn't been recently razed.

while its status is non ideal in the empire, this was necessary concession based on how we acquired it, remember the 2 front war, the allied nobles from vitria who sided with us against ooln doubling our force
the mages (taur mage towers were decimated while darlesia's have been utterly annihilated), the magitech foundry.

and let us no forget, it is one of the biggest east ocean ports on the continent and we are going to have to step up our security for pharos and our navy will be built from there primarily (until we acquire more cities on that ocean border)

The way i figured it, their status will cause some difficulties which will be rendered insignificant in the long run as we expand our empire. eventually they are going to be to us what puerto rico is to the USA.

>>34177851
>the allied nobles from vitria who sided with us against ooln doubling our force
seems a lot of people are forgetting those guys
sarah wasn't the ONLY noble to side with talon. various other assorted nobles did.

>>34177786
I think she'd probably be less 'boring' if we could snag more screen time with her.

I mean think about what makes other harem members more 'interesting'. It's their quirks, and the little rituals we have when interacting with them.
For example, with Gnome we have the feeding ritual and the quirk that she's got a thing about her own bust. With Lynn it's that we have a constantly shifting dominance relationship.

But I get the sense that we don't really have that with Sarah. I mean, what's her quirk exactly? That she goes back and forth between being a catty bitch and being a Talon fangirl? And I don't think we have any kind of 'ritual' with her.

I mean heck, even nonharem members have rituals. Like Vad getting teased, or Taira having a sort of strange dominance play that's similar yet very different from Lynn's dominance play.

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>>34177782
>Honestly, I get the sense he only wants to advance his clan because he's in charge of it. I'd be willing to wager he doesn't actually care about more than a dozen of them.
I'm kind of curious about what makes you think he's this type of person. I'm not nixing your point of view, just curious about what makes you think it.

>>34177859
I only recall two others. The guy who pulled his troops back from the siege on Harromont and the guy who asked us to kill his dad. Second guy I'm still unsure of loyalty wise, since he over committed his troops to repel a small raid leaving us without promised support but he killed the guy who was going to stab us in the back so he's got at least some good will.

When I say nobles I generally just mean the ones who didn't work with us.